


Speechless

by kyouyaed



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Angst, Depression, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Non-Consensual Violence, Non-Graphic Violence, PTSD, Swearing, loss of a loved one, negative emotions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-01
Updated: 2015-10-02
Packaged: 2018-02-27 16:09:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2699162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyouyaed/pseuds/kyouyaed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Tadashi didn't want to cry. He just wanted his brother back.<i></i></i><br/>An AU in which Hiro dies instead of Tadashi. Slow updates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One Day

**Author's Note:**

> Okay first of all, big shout-out to Livvy [theonetruefrance](http://theonetruefrance.tumblr.com/) for helping me with my ideas for this fic and proofreading it for me! Xe has been such a great help even though the fic isn't that far along yet! So lots of thanks to xem.
> 
> So the first couple of chapters deal a lot with Tadashi's feelings. They'll be wordy so as to set up for the rest of the fic. Please bear with me. I'm sorry if I'm not 100% medically accurate throughout the fic. I took a lot of what Tadashi thinks and feels from my own personal experiences, so this fic is really precious to me simply because of that. There won't be any romance, just a lot of feelings and hurt/comfort and friendship.
> 
> Also I'm sorry about the canon details that might be off. I started this fic having only seen BH6 twice and when I saw it the 3rd time, I already loved how chapter 1 was, but I edited most of the details to canon. Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

The microbots had been a huge success. Tadashi had been overwhelmed with pride for his little brother. His Hiro had impressed the entire room of scientists and engineers and people just with an interest in technology. In all honesty, even Tadashi's mind had been somewhat blown. His Hiro, his brother whom he still remembered as a toddler at times, had come up with something as _incredible_ and _groundbreaking_ as microbots and people were recognizing his genius.

It had taken him an incredible amount of self control to not body slam Hiro and keep a tight hold on him in an attempt to let Hiro know how proud of him Tadashi was. The fist bump wasn't enough, though, Tadashi knew. He needed to tell Hiro in detail how amazing the younger Hamada was. Tadashi had backed off when his friends bombarded Hiro with their congratulations, although it was difficult. Part of him didn't like sharing his little brother's affections, but mostly he was just happy that Hiro was opening up and actually had friends he liked.

Tadashi beamed at Hiro when the younger looked up at him through the mass of their friends' limbs and Hiro beamed back.

Aunt Cass made her cameo, but Tadashi couldn't bear to share Hiro with anyone a moment longer.

“Actually,” Tadashi interrupted when their aunt mentioned that dinner would be on her. He put a hand on Hiro's shoulder to keep the younger boy back by his side. “Hiro and I will join you in a little bit.” He felt embarrassed when their aunt agreed and gave them both obnoxious hugs and obnoxious words of encouragement. She was crazy, Tadashi definitely had to admit that, but she loved them both so much and he would be forever grateful to her for that.

Tadashi easily slung his arm around Hiro's shoulders and they watched their friends follow Aunt Cass as they talked excitedly. Tadashi grinned and looked down at Hiro, his grin widening. He squeezed the shorter boy's shoulder.

“C'mon, let's go talk,” Tadashi suggested, frowning in surprise when Hiro wriggled away from him.

“Where can I meet you?” Hiro asked, glancing over his shoulder at the school behind him.

“By the... Over on the bridge,” Tadashi stuttered, slightly stunned by his brother's rejection. To emphasize where he meant, Tadashi motioned toward the bridge in question, less than a minute's walk away. “What are you gonna do?” he wondered aloud.

“I, uh,” Hiro stammered, and Tadashi raised his eyebrows. “Wanted to take some microbots home to help Aunt Cass around the cafe. Y'know, maybe to help cooking or cleaning and organizing...” Tadashi snorted; Aunt Cass wearing the transmitter was a recipe for disaster. “One of us would wear it!” Hiro objected loudly, causing Tadashi to chuckle. “I know how Aunt Cass is. She would be even crazier with the microbots!”

“Don't take too many, okay? Mr. Callaghan will want to store them for you to work on later.” Tadashi smiled as Hiro nodded and took off, although his stomach sunk a little when Hiro entered the school. Brushing off the sinking feeling, Tadashi turned and walked leisurely to the bridge that had a beautiful view of campus.

The older Hamada smiled out at the scene and leaned forward so his elbows rested on the bridge railing. He stared out at it, marveling slightly at the thought of Hiro attending the beautiful school with him. It made him happy to know that Hiro would actually get to do _something_ with his life, with that big brain of his. His smile was fond and only seemed to get fonder the more he thought about all the amazing things he and his brother could accomplish attending the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology together. He enjoyed the image of them sharing a lab in the school and he knew it could and would be a home away from home for the two of them.

Tadashi was rudely jerked out of his fond thoughts by a shrill beeping. At first, his brain only thought it was a car alarm. The screams that started to follow the beeping told him otherwise, though, and he kicked into action, sprinting toward the school.

Many of the windows were shattered and glass littered the steps as people dashed out of the burning building. Tadashi's breath caught in his throat as flames danced out of the highest windows. He tore his gaze away from the fire and searched the crowd of people evacuating the building, hoping to see Hiro among the crowd. Tadashi's eyes zoned in, instead, on a woman just as she started to lose her footing on the spray of glass. He moved quickly to catch her.

“Are you alright?” he asked, helping her stand upright.

The woman clutched onto his cardigan and stared almost desperately into his eyes. “I-I'm fine,” she whimpered. “But... But there was a boy a-and Mr. Callaghan. There are people in there!”

A boy? Tadashi swore his heart stopped. “A boy?” he asked in a low voice. She nodded her head, her eyes beginning to water. “What did he look like?”

She shook her head. “I-I think he was that microbots kid? Hito? Haru?”

“Hiro?” Tadashi whispered. Without waiting for a reply, he released his grip on the woman and pried her fingers off of his cardigan. He whirled around to face the burning school building, his eyes darting between the doors. None of them looked like they would be easy or safe to get into. Hiro was in there, though. He had to try _something_.

“Don't!” the woman screamed at him when he took a step forward.

Tadashi looked over his shoulder at her and reached up, adjusting his cap. “Hiro is my brother!” His voice was trembling and that scared him. “I have to do something. I have to, I have to get him out of there!” His voice cracked and he faced forward, taking the stairs two at a time. His shoes slid on the glass that was scattered about, sending him tumbling back down the stairs. He cursed and struggled to right himself. “Hiro!” he screamed, pushing himself to his feet once again. In a desperate move, he leaped to the top of the stairs, wobbling a bit as he struggled to find purchase on the glassy cement. His balance was thrown off again, only this time by a massive explosion from the school building.

Tadashi's head slammed against the sidewalk when he landed and his vision swam. His face was hot. It was so hot. Everything around him was hot. His whole front was burning up and it felt like his head had landed in a spill of hot cocoa, only he never remembered the hot cocoa Aunt Cass made feeling so sticky and gross. He opened his eyes - _when had he closed them?_ \- and his vision swam again, but he did his best to keep his eyes open. The sky was dark and stars sparkled above him, but there was a faint orange tint to everything.

In a flash, he recognized the orange. The fire. The building exploded. Hiro. Hiro. _Hiro_. Tadashi shot up and his vision swam again and the back of his head throbbed and the stickiness rolled down his neck and under his shirt. Tadashi shook his head and hastily pushed himself to his feet. He stumbled and swayed when he was able to stand up. He brought a hand to his head and pressed the heel of his palm firmly against his temple. The pressure brought his brain to attention and he could see the damage in front of him with surprising clarity.

The building was crumbling quickly. There was metal scattered everywhere and it was a wonder Tadashi had managed not to get hit. He took a step forward and stumbled a few feet to the left instead of straight. He moaned pitifully when his body collided with the stair railing and he tried to focus on getting up the stairs. He _had_ to get to Hiro now. He wasn't safe after that explosion. It was a slow process, and there was a loud ringing in his ears that went beyond the fire alarm. In his sluggish mind, though, Tadashi couldn't place where he knew the sound. Deciding it was irrelevant, he took slow, careful steps up the stairs, the rail serving as a good center whenever his body tried to tilt and drag him down the stairs again.

At the top of the stairs, the heat was intense. Tadashi turned his face away, hoping that might cool some of the heat coming at him. The ringing had gotten closer, but it still seemed pointless to Tadashi and he refused to acknowledge it. Shakily, he released the rail of the stairs and tried to walk forward. His vision was blurry and he couldn't completely focus on an entrance to pick, though he was confident in muscle memory guiding him. One step was successful, but he second step caused him to stumble. He was grateful for stumbling toward the roaring fire instead of away from it.

“Hey!”

Tadashi jerked at the shout.

“Hey! Are you hurt?”

Tadashi blinked and looked around, startled to see a broad shouldered man at his side. The man reached out and gripped Tadashi's elbow.

“Are you hurt?” the man repeated. Tadashi nodded slowly, the back of his head throbbing at the motion. “Can you walk?”

Tadashi took a second to register the question before nodding again. “I have to get inside,” he told the man firmly. When the man didn't speak, Tadashi took a confident step toward the burning building only to lose his balance and crumble to the glass and debris ridden ground.

“Can we get a stretcher?” the man's voice shouted. Tadashi peered up at him, not fully understanding why he'd need a stretcher. He was fully capable of walking. This was just a misstep. Tadashi frowned at the man. “What's your name?” the broad man asked him as he crouched down beside the college student.

“Where's my hat?” he blurted out instead, meeting the man's gaze. The man furrowed his brows briefly before nodding to himself.

Over his shoulder, the man shouted, “Look for a hat! Should have some blood on it.” That done, he faced Tadashi again. “What is your name? Do you know your name?”

His name? Of course he knew his name. Why didn't this guy know his name? “Tadashi,” he informed the man.

“Tadashi _what_?” the man pressed. He glanced up and stood, stepping back a couple of feet. Surprise crossed Tadashi's face when two more people joined them. They laid a stretcher down beside him. Tadashi eyed the stretcher.

“I'm _fine_ ,” he demanded, frowning when the two new people exchanged a look that Tadashi knew well. It was the one he gave Hiro when he knew Hiro was lying about something. Hiro. “Where's Hiro? Did you get him out?”

The person to his right frowned. “Hiro who?”

“Hiro Hamada!” he shouted. “My little brother! He ran inside to get something! Did you get him out?” His stomach tightened at the sight of the look the two shared above him again. “Where's Hiro? Where is he? Where is Hiro?” His voice was high and he could feel the tears burning the backs of his eyes.

“Sean,” the person to his left said over his shoulder. “Can you get the anesthetic?” Tadashi didn't hear Sean's response and flailed in shock and slight anger when the two people he was with tried to force him onto the stretcher.

“I'm fine, I'm fine!” Tadashi snapped. “Hiro's not! Where is he? You need to get him.”

Tadashi turned his head away when he was presented with a breathing mask. One of the people above him sighed and forcefully grabbed his jaw, turning his head. They pressed the mask to his face and Tadashi gave a displeased groan. This was not going to help him get to Hiro.

“I got his first name,” Tadashi distantly heard Sean say to someone. “Tadashi.”

“Hamada,” the voice of one of the other two replied. “Tadashi Hamada. He asked for his brother Hiro Hamada. Did we clock in a Hiro Hamada?”

Sean was silent for a second too long, but Tadashi couldn't bring himself to shout at the man. He sighed into the mask over his mouth and nose and closed his eyes, wondering what Sean's reply was, wondering if Hiro was safe from the explosion.

* * *

Tadashi woke up to the sound of someone crying. He blinked himself awake and stared straight above him. The room was white and natural light seemed to be filtering in from an unknown source to his right. Tadashi blinked again.

“Hiro?” he called out, cringing at how scratchy his voice was.

“Tadashi! Oh, thank god!” That wasn't Hiro's voice. That was definitely his Aunt Cass's voice, shaky and croaky. Tadashi looked around in confusion, pushing himself up slightly so he could better see his aunt only to have her push him back down. “Stay down, Tadashi.” She sniffled and he listened as she shifted around. The door opened and closed behind her and he stared back up at the ceiling. It only took Aunt Cass a few seconds to return to the room.

“Tadashi?” a new voice asked.

Tadashi sighed. “Yes,” he confirmed, eyes swiping to the side to see who was talking to him. He couldn't see a person at all.

“How are you feeling?”

“Thirsty,” Tadashi mumbled.

“I'll get some water!” his Aunt Cass shouted a little too loud. Tadashi frowned at the sound of his aunt rushing out of the room.

He and the mystery person fell into a brief bout of silence after the door clicked shut. It didn't last long, though.

“I'm going to sit you up, okay?” the person asked.

“Okay,” Tadashi agreed. He flinched in surprise when the bed started to move until he was sitting up at an angle. He had a good view of the room he was in after that and his stomach soured when he realized he was in a hospital room. He quickly looked around and located the mystery person. She smiled at him.

“I'm Dr. Canna,” she said calmly. “Can you tell me your full name?”

Tadashi blinked at her. “Tadashi Hamada,” he said after a few moments of thinking. Hamada was his last name, at least he thought so. It sounded correct.

“What school do you attend?”

He swallowed, wracking his brain. Right. “San Fransokyo Institute of Technology.” Why did that name hurt his chest? Why did it make him want to cry?

“Do you remember what happened to bring you here?” Dr. Canna asked in her same calm, cool tone.

Tadashi stared at her. He couldn't remember quite well. He remembered Hiro, he remembered overflowing with so much pride he thought he would burst. Tadashi remembered a balcony and he remembered the fire alarm and someone telling him Hiro was inside. Inside where? He couldn't remember that much.

“No,” he finally admitted, averting his gaze from the woman. She clicked her tongue and made a note on the clipboard in her hands.

The doctor hummed for a few seconds before she sighed. “On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?”

Those words brought a brief smile to Tadashi's face; Baymax was probably waiting at home for him and he would get the same treatment from the warm robot. “Seven,” Tadashi said quietly, glancing up to see Dr. Canna nodding.

“What hurts the most?” she asked next.

Tadashi wrinkled his nose in concentration for a brief second. “My head,” he decided. “Definitely my head.”

Dr. Canna nodded again. “Understandably. I'll have the nurse bring in Tylenol for you.” She made another note on her clipboard and looked up at him. Her face was kind, but firm. “You have a concussion, Tadashi. What do you know about concussions?”

He huffed. He could answer that question pretty easily. “I know a concussion is usually caused by a strong blow to the head, and that the symptoms of a concussion vary depending on the severity of the concussion itself. Resting and not straining the mind too much usually helps move the healing process along.” Tadashi felt proud of himself when Dr. Canna smiled at him.

“Exactly,” she said. “Along with a concussion, the back of your head required stitches, so you will most likely have near constant headaches. I'm going to advise you to only,” she met his gaze firmly as she emphasized the word 'only', “take Tylenol for your headaches. You won't be able to go to school or work for the next three weeks, after which you'll need to come in and see me so I can give you a check up. You won't be able to do any serious work at home, either. Not too much t.v., don't strain your brain trying to do math or make robots, the works.” Tadashi frowned as the doctor spoke. He understood all of what she was saying. The only things he really didn't understand were why he was there in the first place and why Hiro wasn't with him. “Do you have any questions?”

Tadashi nodded slowly. “Yeah. Where's my brother? Why am I in here?”

Dr. Canna's face remained calm, much to Tadashi's annoyance. He wanted some reaction to tell him how concerned he should be. “There was a fire and subsequent explosion at SFIT. You were quite close to the building when the explosion happened, and received your concussion from being blown back and hitting your head on the sidewalk. As for where your brother is, your aunt will better be able to answer that question,” Dr. Canna explained, her voice as unwavering as her face.

Tadashi frowned at her but didn't press the issue. What would she know about where Hiro was anyway? He sighed when she started to walk him through how to use the bed remote and how to page a nurse if needed.

“Wait,” he called as Dr. Canna headed to the door. She turned to him with a smile on her face. “When can I get out of here?”

She hummed. “Possibly this evening. I'll give you a check up tonight and we'll see how you're doing.” Tadashi sighed and the doctor took her leave.

Tadashi glanced around the room again, narrowing his eyes when he noticed his SFIT hat on the bedside table. He snatched it up and held it in his hands, staring down at it. Why couldn't he remember being caught in that explosion? That would explain the fire alarm in his memory, though. Tadashi gripped the hat tightly for a few seconds before he released it, letting it flop onto his lap lamely. The door to his hospital room opened then and he looked up expectantly.

Aunt Cass was holding a Styrofoam cup with a straw poking out of the top. She met his gaze and grimaced, although Tadashi got the impression that it was supposed to be a smile. He tried to smile back and she averted her gaze quickly, turning her back on him.

“Give us a few minutes,” she said to someone outside the door. Without waiting for a reply, Aunt Cass shut the door. Her hand clutched the door knob and Tadashi's stomach twisted painfully. The last time he had seen his aunt so distressed was when his and Hiro's parents had died. Tadashi swallowed thickly and Aunt Cass turned. Tadashi swore his heart stopped when he saw her face, although the heart monitor disagreed.

Her eyes were watery and tears rolled down her face. Her lips quivered and her cheeks were blotching up with red rapidly. Aunt Cass took a deep breath and walked over to his bed, handing him the cup. Tadashi accepted it thankfully and took a long sip from the cup. His throat definitely thanked him. After lubricating his throat, Tadashi spoke.

“Aunt Cass... Where's Hiro?”

Those words seemed to break his aunt because she dropped to the chair beside his bed and began sobbing. Tadashi's heart clenched and he felt like he was going to puke. His aunt didn't speak. She simply curled in on herself and let out heart wrenching sobs. Tadashi's hand tightened on his cup of water.

“Aunt Cass,” he said in as firm a voice he could manage. “Where. Is. Hiro?”

“Th-the explosion,” she choked out. “He didn't... Oh god, Tadashi. He was only fourteen!” Aunt Cass let out a hysteric wail. “He was fourteen! Oh god. Oh god.” The woman next to him fell apart at that moment, her words trailing off into quietly repeated 'oh god's. Tadashi stared at her, his eyes burning. Was? He was fourteen? No.

“No,” he said aloud. “No. He is fourteen, Aunt Cass.”

She let out another wail. “Tadashi, he didn't get out in time! He was... He-he...” She choked and jerked her head up. Tadashi wanted to look away from her wild looking face. Her face was blotchy red and tears left tracks all across her face. Her eyes were bloodshot now and just looking at her hurt Tadashi's heart. He never wanted to see his aunt so broken. “He died,” she whispered and then she shrieked and leaped away from him.

Tadashi glanced down and let out a shaky laugh at the sight of his cup of water completely smashed in his hand. He shakily unfurled his fist and watched the Styrofoam fall limply onto his lap next to his SFIT hat. The water from his cup soaked into his blanket, sending a slight chill through his body. That didn't matter, though. Nothing mattered to him with those two words. The blanket was starting to stick to Tadashi's leg and he only stared at it. Hiro was dead.

His light, the reason he got up in the mornings and came home at night, his darling, the boy he'd practically raised. His Hiro was dead. His little brother, his precious baby brother. The boy that Tadashi had such high hopes for. The boy that Tadashi looked out for, even when he was bot fighting and betting and doing things no boy of fourteen should have been doing. His boy was dead.

Tadashi let out a choked sob and he hunched in on himself, much like Aunt Cass had when he asked about Hiro. He pressed his forehead to his knees, his lips brushing the bill of his hat. The tears ran free down Tadashi's face and he couldn't hold back the sobs as it set in. The door opened, but Tadashi paid it no mind. He didn't care. Nothing mattered. Nothing would ever matter again. That thought triggered a new bout of sobs and he clutched desperately at the hospital blanket, wanting and needing something, _anything_ , to ground him, to bring him back, to make life matter. Nothing mattered, though. Nothing could bring him back. _Hiro_ mattered. Hiro was what Tadashi lived for. He lived to make his brother's life happy and to protect him and care for him. Tadashi lived for the tiny boy that sometimes crawled in his bed at night after a particularly awful dream. He lived for the small boy who made fun of Baymax but still offered up suggestions of how to improve him.

His heart ached, his lungs burned, the back of his head throbbed, and it wasn't enough. Tadashi screamed against his knees, not responding when someone touched his shoulder. The tears burned and he was pretty sure he was inhaling some tears up his nose. He didn't care. His Hiro was gone. His baby.

“Hiro,” he whimpered through his body wracking sobs. “My Hiro. My Hiro, my little brother, my _otouto_.” He hiccuped and pulled his arms to his chest, clutching at his face. He let out another scream, as if screaming would ease the pain. Tadashi didn't care that he was in a hospital, a place of healing, a place of quiet. His heart was ripped out and destroyed. His Hiro was gone, and nothing could change that.

“Tadashi?” a gentle voice questioned. His brain quickly placed the voice as Honey Lemon and figured the hand on his shoulder was her's. “We're here for you,” she whispered. “It hurts, Tadashi. It's going to hurt, we know that. We want to be here for you, we want to help you so you hurt a little less each day.”

He jerked away from her at those words, dislodging her hand and jarring the I.V.s in his arms and the pad taped to his chest to monitor his heart.

“Help me hurt a little less each day?” Tadashi repeated to her, his tone full of hate. Honey Lemon's eyes widened in shock and she gave a tiny nod. Tadashi stared at her before looking around the room. Wasabi had his arm comfortingly around Aunt Cass but he was watching Tadashi with wide, wary eyes. Gogo was hovering behind Honey Lemon, her eyes narrowed at Tadashi in what he could only assume was a scolding way. Fred was lingering in the back, by the door of the room. He only looked worried, watching Tadashi with wide puppy eyes.

“Yes,” Honey Lemon finally said. “That's what friends do. _Help_.”

Tadashi let out a choked sob. “He's _dead_ ,” he hissed. “My Hiro is _dead_! The only way you can help is by bringing him back to life!”

Honey swallowed and reached out. She pressed her hand to Tadashi's chest and met his gaze, flinching at his expression. “Hiro is in here, Tadashi.”

Tadashi smacked her hand away from him harshly. “I can't _hug_ him from there, Honey. I can't _ruffle his hair_ , I can't tell him how much I love him and hear him say it too.” His own words made him choke again. “God... I'll never hear his voice again...” A fresh wave of tears hit him at that and he covered his face with his hands, letting out a hysteric sob. He dug his blunt fingernails into his hairline and sobbed into his hands.

“Tadashi,” Honey tried.

“Go away!” He half-yelled, half-sobbed. “Just get out! Leave! You can't do anything! Nothing can help, Honey!” A shudder wracked through his body. “He's gone. Hiro is _gone_ and you can't _help me_! So leave!” He pulled away from his hands and shot Honey Lemon a scathing look before turning his face away, staring instead at the hat and Styrofoam in his lap. The tears continued to fall, dropping to his lap. They stained his bedding and the hat and simply rolled off the destroyed cup.

His baby brother was gone and he would never, never hear him speak again. He'd never get to hear that exasperated fondness Hiro always seemed to have when he talked to Tadashi. He would never get to hear him squeal when Tadashi tickled him, or hear him beg Tadashi to stop tickling. Tadashi would never get to hear anything from Hiro again. Not anger, happiness, sadness, confusion, joy, love... Nothing. No 'Good night, Tadashi,' or 'go to bed already, idiot!'. Nothing.

Tadashi let out a broken sob as the door to his room shut, leaving him alone to deal with his emotions. Leaving him alone to deal with the end of his entire world.


	2. Twelve Weeks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, shout out to Livvy [theonetruefrance](http://theonetruefrance.tumblr.com/) for proofreading and helping me with this chapter! And to my wife, Sara [tinafeye](http://tinafeye.tumblr.com/) for supporting me and giving me ideas too.
> 
> This will be another feelings chapter. Tadashi is going to be a bit OOC, but only because of the grief and dealing with the loss of Hiro is taking a toll on him. I don't know if any of you have dealt with the loss of a brother, but it's painful and heart wrenching and it can change a person as they cope through it. But! It should pick up in chapter 3, but chapter 4 might be feelings again? I haven't worked out the finer details of chapter 4 yet... I'm slacking 'cause I only have a couple people to bounce ideas around with.
> 
> I think my update schedule will be, finish the chapter to be posted (2), get it proofread/edited, write the next chapter (3), then post the chapter to be posted. So I guess watch for chapter 3 soon, as it's already written and chapter 4 is being worked on.
> 
> A massive thank you to everyone who commented, left kudos, and bookmarked this story! Now, enough from me. Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think.

_HoneyLemonLove@sfit.com to TadaHamada@sfit.com_  
Subject: Hey  
June 25 

_Tadashi,_

_It's Honey Lemon. Um. Well, obviously you knew that already because my email address is right there. We miss you at school. Our teachers all have you on the roster, and they ask about you daily and send their well wishes. The principal said that you should take all the time you need to grieve and heal, but that you shouldn't hesitate to use the resources SFIT has to offer. Like, Mrs. Clementine is a really great counselor! Gogo went to see her after what happened and she said that Mrs. Clementine helped a lot. Maybe it would do you some good to come in and see her, or at least find a counselor. They can be really helpful._

_I know you don't want to talk, and I'm trying to respect that as your friend. Just know that I'm here -we're all here, okay?_

_Honey Lemon_

**Message Unread. Confirm Deletion. Message Deleted**.

* * *

The room was dark, only the faint light from the street lamps outside filtering in. Tadashi couldn't be bothered to turn the light on. It wasn't like he was doing anything that required light anyway. He learned weeks ago that the bedroom light being on at night was something Aunt Cass took as an invitation to come in and talk to him. Tadashi didn't want to talk. He wanted to hide away in his room, his and Hiro's room, and be ignored. Was that too hard to respect?

Tadashi involuntarily sniffled. He'd been doing that a lot the past few week. He was constantly on the verge of tears, his bottom lip always trembling and his eyes always burning. The rare times he'd spoken, his voice cracked and he had been doing that shaky pre-cry breathing. His heart hurt, that was all there was too it. Tadashi's heart hurt. His chest ached and it felt like there was a gaping hole in his heart where Hiro belonged that had been ripped out. He sniffled again and shifted on his bed until he was sitting up.

The door was drawn closed between his room and Hiro's room. Tadashi wanted as little interaction with Hiro's half of their space as possible. He'd tried, that first night they'd come home. He'd tried to go through Hiro's things, to find something to cling to of Hiro's that was happy and captured his brother in all his youth and joy. His hands had trembled so bad he couldn't hold a single piece of paper, much less sort through Hiro's personal things. That night, he had cried himself to sleep with his face shoved in his pillow so he wouldn't trigger Baymax's sensors. Tadashi honestly didn't want anything to do with anyone, not even his robot. The one he'd been so painfully proud of and had been so excited to show to Hiro.

Tadashi shoved his fist to his mouth, biting down on his knuckles to muffle the sudden sobs that began to wrack his body. Tears stung at his eyes and he was glad for the dark. The dark could hide his tears, even if the only person he wanted to hide them from was himself. He twisted himself on his bed and shoved his face into his pillow, letting the sobs take him over once again. His throat was sore from all the crying he'd been doing, but he couldn't fathom doing anything else. He couldn't go back to school, couldn't bear the pitying looks people would give him. He couldn't go down and work with Aunt Cass in the cafe because she would be the one giving him those looks. It had been six weeks- a month and two weeks, forty-two days- since he lost Hiro and it had been forty-two days since Tadashi had been able to do something other than sit in his room and cry. He sobbed painfully into his pillow, wishing it would all go away, wishing that Hiro hadn't wanted to go back in for his microbots for the aunt, wishing that Hiro was on the other side of that separating screen making a face as he tried to concentrate. He wished it didn't hurt so bad.

* * *

_WasabiNoGinger@sfit.com to TadaHamada@sfit.com_  
Subject: Group Therapy  
July 17 

_Tadashi,_

_Hey buddy. We found this really cool, free, group therapy place the other night. It was Fred's idea to find some way to help us all at once and we stumbled across the group in a community gym. The group leader's name is Dez, or at least that's how he introduced himself. He's very kind and patient and seems to know a lot about what he's doing. I think he went to school for psychology with the way he talks to us about our emotions and stuff. He holds group therapy every Thursday at 5pm at the community gym off Orchard and Hokkaido, you know, by the Super Saver? Dez is very welcoming to new faces, and I'm sure the group would take you in easily._

_Please, please consider it, Tadashi. Please. For your own safety, for your own mental health._

_Wasabi._

**Message Unread. Confirm Deletion. Message Deleted**.

* * *

He was cold. The room was cold. Tadashi's blanket wasn't thin by any means; it normally did the job on keeping him warm even in the chilly winter months. In an effort to make himself feel something, though, Tadashi had flung open the window on his side of the bedroom and had bundled up, not bothering to close the window when the rain started coming down in sheets. A slight puddle was forming beneath the window and Tadashi's nose was red and his teeth were chattering, but he couldn't bring himself to care or to fix the situation.

In a way, it made him feel better because he felt something. It also made him angry because he felt something. He sniffled, for once from the cold instead of the need to cry. He wanted everything to be okay, and he was too tired and too cold to fix things.

With a soft groan, Tadashi pushed himself out of bed and marched over to the window. He stared out into the rain that seemed to be flooding the streets in front of the cafe, although he knew that the next day would seem like they'd never gotten any rain at all. Tadashi hated San Fransokyo weather, just like he hated most things that year. Using unnecessary amounts of force, Tadashi slammed his window shut. He cringed when the glass cracked and backed away from the window. He didn't want to break his window. Tadashi didn't know what he wanted anymore, except for the hole in his chest to fill over. He didn't care what it filled with. Hate, love, lust, anger, an uncontrollable need for sushi at all hours of the day, Tadashi would take any relief from the constant pain, the constant reminder that he failed Hiro.

Like always, his thoughts choked him up. He was getting better at keeping his thoughts off of Hiro, but that only prolonged the intense sobbing he ended up doing. Tadashi covered his mouth and coughed into his hand as he trudged back to his bed. He flopped down onto it and let both of his arms fall out to his sides, leaving his feet on the floor. Tadashi stared forlornly at the ceiling before sighing tiredly and bundling himself up in his blanket. He curled up with his back to Baymax's charging box and the window and what little light came in from the street lamps. He fisted his blanket in his hands and bit his bottom lip, trying not to cry. Tadashi didn't want to cry. He just wanted his brother back.

* * *

_GogoTomago@sfit.com to TadaHamada@sfit.com_  
Subject: Woman Up!  
July 20 

_Tadashi,_

_Woman the hell up, Hamada. You're hurting. We're all hurting. We lost part of our school, we lost a teacher, we lost a friend, we lost you. We're not sitting around sulking and trying not to help ourselves. Grow up, Hamada! Sitting in your room with the lights off, not speaking to anyone? That's not going to help you at all. That will never help anyone accomplish anything. You better be reading this, Tadashi Hamada. Stop being a stubborn child, ask for help. We're here for you. We want to help you. We are here, Tadashi. Get off your stubborn, isolated horse._

_Gogo._

**Message Unread. Confirm Deletion. Message Deleted**.

* * *

He was sick, down with the common cold. He'd had to tell Aunt Cass, much to his annoyance. How else could he have explained the missing cold medicine without her thinking he was trying to commit suicide? Tadashi didn't want to be sick and he didn't ask to be sick. It was just one more thing on the pile of crap life gave him. He couldn't even cry properly. That should have been a good thing, but it wasn't what Tadashi wanted and so it wasn't okay. Not that he knew what he wanted. Tadashi still didn't know what he wanted. Except maybe to not be sick.

He had been struggling somewhat to keep his coughing down. He had programmed Baymax to respond to sounds of pain as well as sounds of someone being sick. So far, he had been successful but it was only a matter of time before a coughing fit was too harsh to hide from his sensitive robot. Tadashi sniffled and reached for the chicken broth he'd heated up for himself. After nearly two months of starving himself unintentionally, Tadashi was having a difficult time stomaching anything beyond liquids. He sipped at the broth, sighing as it warmed him.

Tadashi glanced around his room, gaze lingering on Baymax for a second before a coughing fit hit him and he hastened to cover his mouth, shaking as he coughed painfully into his hand. His broth spilled from his bowl and he struggled to slide the bowl onto his bedside table. He brought his free hand up to cover his mouth as well and doubled over, hacking near violently into his hands. He squeezed his eyes shut, tears leaking out as he coughed.

There was a telltale beep in the room and Tadashi mentally swore. The sounds of inflation filled the room and he continued coughing, and although his coughs were lessening the damage had been done.

“Hello, I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion,” the robot said. Tadashi wanted to laugh or cry or both, but his coughing prevented him from doing much. “Tadashi? I will now scan you. Scan complete. You seem to have-”

“I, I know,” Tadashi managed to get out between coughs. “I have a cold, Baymax. I'm-” he cut himself off with a few more coughs.

Baymax was silent for a beat. “Your neurotransmitters are low, Tadashi,” Baymax informed him. “Diagnosis: depression. May I offer you a cure?”

Tadashi coughed again and peered up at the robot. Baymax was standing just outside of his charging box, next to the bed. The brunet gave a coughed laugh.

“I'm fine, Baymax,” he insisted, coughing again. “Really, I just... Need some rest.”

Baymax stared down at him and turned his gaze to the sliding door between the two Hamada brothers' rooms. “Perhaps Hiro can help you,” offered the robot. The tears that rolled down Tadashi's face were unbidden. “Tadashi? Why are you crying? Shall I get Hiro?” Tadashi shook his head and sniffled.

“No,” he whispered. “No...”

“Why not?”

Tadashi sobbed and slapped his hands over his mouth. “He's not- I... Hiro's... He's...” Tadashi sobbed again. “Hiro's dead!” He tucked his elbows into his chest and sobbed against his hands, tears burning his face and coughs slipping into the sobs. Tadashi listened as his robot squeaked around his room. There was a soft whirring sound and then Baymax's vinyl squeaked around again.

“I have downloaded a database on personal loss, Tadashi,” the robot announced. “Would you like a hug?” Tadashi laughed and it hurt his throat. He sat himself up and stared at Baymax for a long moment.

“Sure,” he finally said, laughing again when Baymax struggled to bend down to give him a hug. The tears still rolled down his face and he shook his head. “Let me, let me get up.” He sniffled and pushed down his blanket. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and pushed himself up, stumbling into the soft robot. Baymax stretched out and pulled Tadashi to his chest.

“You need warmth to help your body purge the cold virus,” Baymax advised. Tadashi laughed a sob as Baymax heated himself up, keeping Tadashi pressed tight to him.

Tadashi sighed against him. “My legs hurt,” he mumbled, shouting in surprise when Baymax swept him off his feet and squeaked around the room. Tadashi grunted as he and Baymax plopped down on his bed. “Thank you,” he mumbled when the robot pulled the blanket over them both, keeping his heating feature on.

For the first night since Hiro died, Tadashi didn't cry himself to sleep. He slept fitfully, curled into Baymax's side.

* * *

_fredzilla@usf.com to TadaHama@sfit.com_  
Subject: Buuuuddyyyyy  
August 13 

_Heyyyy Tadashi!_

_Pick up your phone, man! Or answer our emails. This isn't cool, bro. You need to stop this self-imposed isolation. We're here for you. This is like my favorite comic book, Dr. Doom: Revenge of Chara. Chara all isolated herself because she was distressed, and she like didn't come out until she was angry and wanted to take revenge on Dr. Doom for destroying her whole town. Don't be like Chara, Tadashi. It's not a good look. I don't know if you could pull off the pink spandex._

_Look, man... We're here for you. You're not the only one hurting from Hiro's death, okay? What about your Aunt Cass? What about Baymax? What about me? Really, Tadashi? I know he was your little brother. We all know, Tada. But don't do this. Don't shut yourself away. Don't hurt yourself even more._

_If you don't write back, I'll come over there and deliver some true mascot butt kicking!_

_Fred._

**Message Unread. Confirm Deletion. Message Deleted**.

* * *

Tadashi couldn't bring himself to cry anymore. Not that he didn't want to cry, but he didn't have it in him to cry. All of his energy was gone. All he wanted to do was lay on his bed. Baymax wasn't having any of that. He was just doing his programmed job, but it irked Tadashi. Where Tadashi wanted to curl in a ball and never move again, Baymax felt forcing him into the shower was appropriate. Where Tadashi thought broth was a good meal, Baymax would make proper chicken soup and a glass of milk. Where Tadashi thought closing the door between his and Hiro's rooms and leaving the lights off would help, Baymax insisted that the openness and light would make him feel better.

“Baymax, shut the light off,” Tadashi moaned, rolling over in his bed so his back was to where Baymax stood in Hiro's room.

“The light is good for you,” Baymax replied instead.

“Shut it off,” he whimpered.

“Do you have a migraine?” came the robotic reply.

“No...”

“Then I will not turn the light off.”

Tadashi groaned loudly and shoved his face into his pillow. It smelled fresh. Tadashi wouldn't have been surprised if Baymax had washed his bedding while he was in the shower before he came in informing him that his shower had been going on for far too long.

“Perhaps you should get out of bed,” Baymax suggested. “Walking has been known to lift a person's mood. We could go for a walk together, Tadashi.”

“Uh-uh,” was Tadashi's muffled reply. He grumbled when the blanket was pulled off of him. He sat up with a scowl and watched his robot fold up his blanket and place it at the foot of his bed.

“You should not waste the day, Tadashi,” Baymax said. Tadashi got the impression that he wasn't really being given an option if he didn't want to be nagged. He sighed and slid off of his bed, stumbling into one of his bookshelves. His legs ached and he supposed that was what he got for spending the better part of two and a half months in bed. He took slow steps around his bed to his closet and pulled out some clean jeans and a clean shirt, somewhat glad that it wasn't hard to find either of those things. He changed quickly and grabbed a cardigan off of the closet door.

“Shoes?” he mumbled to himself, jumping and stumbling onto his bed when Baymax tapped him on the shoulder. Weakly, Tadashi shifted onto his bed and sighed, taking the shoes the nursebot offered him. It took Tadashi a few attempts to tie his shoes, his hands trembling badly. “Okay... We're just going around the block, right?”

Baymax lifted him off the bed and placed him in Hiro's half of the room. “Just around the block,” the bot repeated. Tadashi sighed and gripped the robot's hand to walk to the door. He used the door frame as support and shifted into the hall, stumbling and catching himself on the wall. Baymax followed him with a slight squeak of his vinyl. 

The two made slow progress down the stairs from the bedroom and down the stairs from their house. Tadashi stumbled awkwardly into the cafe, Baymax reaching out to grab him in time to stop him from his face meeting the cafe floor. The plush robot straightened Tadashi who glanced around the cafe, averting his gaze upon noticing that everyone had stopped what they were doing to stare at him.

“Tadashi!” Aunt Cass exclaimed, surprise coloring her voice. Tadashi wanted to cringe away from her tone but Baymax had a gentle but firm grip on his forearm.

“Tadashi and I are going for a walk,” the robot informed Tadashi's aunt. “We shall be back soon.”

Tadashi glanced up and grimaced at the excited look on his aunt's face. She looked like she'd been given a million dollars. Guilt flooded him and he looked away from her, not wanting to face the damage he'd probably been doing to her psyche.

“When you get back, would you like something to eat?” Aunt Cass asked.

“Eating more than soup would be good for Tadashi's health,” the nursebot declared. “Perhaps a sandwich and some tea would be good for Tadashi.”

“A-a sandwich,” Aunt Cass said, her voice shaky despite her excitement. “I'll have one ready.”

Tadashi's shoulders slumped and an irritated sigh escaped his mouth. “Fine,” he mumbled. Without another word, he pulled his arm from Baymax's grip and took a few shaky steps forward, sighing when he had to grab onto Baymax's hand to keep him steady as they walked out of the cafe.

* * *

_HamadaHiro@ceromail.com to TadaHamada@sfit.com_  
Subject: Thank You!!  
January 10 

_I know you're mad at me, Big Brother. I knoooow I shouldn't have gone bot fighting again. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. Bot fighting is great, Tadashi. You get to see all these people's inventions and compare yours to theirs and if you win, you get money. But I'm sorry you feel like you have to protect me from everything... I'm sorry I get into trouble a lot. Thank you for taking care of me, Big Brother. You're the best, and I'm not lying. I hope you read this and don't just let it get lost in your emails. I know how you are, Big Brother. You're always so disorganized and you forget to read things._

_Anyway, I love you and I'm so glad that you're my big brother and not someone mean or uncaring. I wouldn't trade you for the world. I love you so, so much. Thank you for never giving up on me_

_Your Hiro_

**Message Read. Moved to Favorites**.

* * *

Baymax was down in the kitchen, cooking something or other after downloading a recipe database thinking that new foods would make Tadashi feel better. He left Tadashi with instructions not to lay in bed and had closed off Tadashi's room so the robot would know if the depressed brunette tried to crawl into bed. That left Tadashi in Hiro's half of the room. After much deliberation, Tadashi had sat delicately on Hiro's bed, his fingers gliding over the messy comforter.

Tadashi could distantly hear Baymax banging around and a faint smile flickered across his face as he heard the robot say, “Oh no,” and clattered around a bit. His fingers tangled in the comforter and he sighed, glancing at Hiro's desk next to him.

Making a great effort, Tadashi pushed himself to his feet and trailed over to the desk. His foot bumped a stray paper and he bent over to pick it up. Tadashi frowned at what was on the page. It was a smeared design for a robot Tadashi faintly recognized from months ago. Had Hiro been trying to redesign his fighting bot? Tadashi scrutinized the paper before flipping it over, chuckling a bit at the hastily scrawled notes squeezed in between drawings.

“Oh, Hiro,” Tadashi murmured fondly, stroking his thumb on the corner of the paper. His heart clenched and he swallowed, knowing he couldn't cry. He had basically cried himself out. Tadashi glanced at Hiro's desk, his eyes zoning in on the bot that the redesign in his hand was for. Tadashi gripped the paper in his hand and reached out for the robot. He slipped his fingers under it and scooped it up, twisting his wrist around as he looked at it. Tadashi let out a watery laugh that turned into a pained shout as the top of the bot disconnected from the rest and landed on his foot.

The rest of the robot dropped from Tadashi's hand as he leaped away with a yell, hopping on one foot over to Hiro's bed. He dropped down and gripped his foot, muttering curses lowly. Tadashi almost laughed when Baymax squeaked through the bedroom door.

“I heard a sound of distress,” Baymax announced. “I will now scan you. Scan complete.” This time, Tadashi did laugh. “You seem to have injured your foot. On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?”

Tadashi couldn't help but chuckle again. His nursebot was something else. “Two,” he informed Baymax before looking back at his toe. It seemed to be swelling. He sighed and touched his big toe, wincing slightly. “Can you-could you... Ice?”

“Yes,” was the reply. Tadashi glanced up and watched him waddle out of the room, sighing softly. He held onto his foot and watched until Baymax was down the stairs out of his view. He smiled fondly after his robot and glanced down at the bot responsible for his smashed toe. The bright yellow face seemed to smile warmly at him.

Tears welled in Tadashi's eyes and he felt the sobs choke up in his throat. He missed his Hiro. Baymax returned with an icepack wrapped in a towel and headed back out, promising his lunch would be done soon. Tadashi set the redesign paper he forgot he was holding down onto the bed and gently applied the ice pack to his toe. That done, his eyes snapped right back to the black robot with the smiling face, his heart clenching painfully as he stared at it.


	3. Fifteen Weeks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to change the tags from canon-typical violence. For this chapter and chapter 4, which I only just finished (which is why this update took a week and a day). I don't think anyone got kicked and punched and banged up in canon Uh... Big thanks to my wife [Sara](http://tinafeye.tumblr.com/) for helping me with this chapter!
> 
> An important note is that the chapters will now have titles and the titles will indicate how much time has passed since Hiro's death at the end of the chapter. ~~So at the end of this chapter, it will be 13 weeks since Hiro died.~~ EDIT: FML i messed up and its actually 15 weeks...
> 
> Tadashi is sort of OOC. I tried to explain why he's doing what he's doing, but if you have any questions I will definitely answer them. The action will really start to pick up in the next chapter, so be super excited for that. This is good build up to the kind of person Tadashi will become because of his grief. Enough from me now. Please enjoy!

Tadashi's hands were shaking. What he was about to do was painfully stupid, but he was going to do it anyway. Baymax had urged him not to leave alone, but Tadashi brushed him off with a promise to call on Skype if he got in an unsafe situation. Tadashi wasn't entirely sure what his gentle robot could do if he got in trouble, but it was the thought that counted. The longer he stood outside of the decrepit building, though, the longer Tadashi was starting to understand Baymax's concerns.

He was in the shady part of San Fransokyo, the part that he used to warn Hiro away from. Tadashi's hands clenched tightly at the thought of his little brother and he hissed, the skin of his right hand catching one of the joints of his newest robot. He let his grip go light and glanced around him for what had to be the umpteenth time. No one was coming from either side of the street and no one had entered or left the building since Tadashi had been standing there. He was still nervous. Tadashi had never gone to a bot fight as a participant before. The most he'd done was run in to grab Hiro and run out. Tadashi wasn't sure of the inner workings of bot fights and he didn't know if he was just supposed to go in the front door.

Swallowing, Tadashi steeled himself and jogged across the street. He squeezed his robot for moral support before he knocked on the door. It swung open after a few seconds of waiting and a thin woman with an amused smile greeted him.

“Can I help you?” she asked, her tone mocking. Tadashi's hands continued to shake.

“I'm here for the, uh...” He swallowed, disappointed in his voice for reflecting how nervous he felt. “The fight,” he blurted out lamely. He shifted awkwardly when the woman gave him a once over. When she scoffed at him, his ears burned in embarrassment. Tadashi was all too aware of how out-of-place he looked.

“Come in,” the woman finally said, clicking her tongue at him as an afterthought. She stepped to the side of the door and Tadashi stepped inside hesitantly, jumping when she shut the door behind him. She walked past him briskly and motioned after herself with her arm. “Follow me.”

Tadashi trailed behind the woman, trying to take in the rooms she lead him through as well as the path she was taking him on. He snapped to attention when she stopped in front of a plain looking door. Tadashi could faintly hear chatter behind it and took a deep breath, trying to still his shaking. The woman swung it open and gestured him through, following as he stepped out into what seemed to be the yard of the building. She slammed the door behind her and he watched her weave elegantly through the mob of people in the yard. As an afterthought, Tadashi decided it was best he didn't follow her. Instead, the brunette pushed through the crowd in a different way, hoping to get close to the center of where everyone was gathered. People surprisingly moved for him until he was standing along the sidelines of a chalk fighting ring with two pillows across from one another.

He gazed at the arena and subconsciously pulled his robot to his chest as if that would protect either of them from what he'd brought himself into. Tadashi gulped audibly and he reached up, pulling his hat down. Hat secure on his head, Tadashi returned his grip to his robot. People around him continued to talk as though they weren't waiting for illegal bot fights to begin. Tadashi wished they would be quiet.

Almost as soon as he thought that, the conversation seemed to die. Tadashi glanced around and averted his gaze when the woman who had let him in floated into the arena. A man he recognized as Yama thumped in after her with a wide grin on his face.

“Welcome to another round of bot fighting!” the woman announced loudly. Around Tadashi, cheers erupted and he tried to shrink in on himself. He felt even more out-of-place now that he was there. For starters, he was the only one in sweatpants and a baggy hoodie. Then there was the fact that everyone there had at least one visible tattoo. To top it all off, the bot in his hand was significantly less intimidating that the ones everyone else held. How had Hiro managed to come in with such confidence when he was surrounded by all of these burly, aggressive people? “Yama is back in business!” The woman shouted with a broad grin. “Who wants to be the first to challenge him?”

Tadashi tried to shrink back into the crowd and couldn't help the relieved sigh when a young woman with blue tipped blond hair marched confidently into the arena. She had a tall, wiry robot with two tiny eyes and sharp claws for fingers. She gave Yama a cocky grin and set her bot down in the arena before plopping down on one of the pillows. Yama grinned widely at her and thumped his own bot in the arena; his was wide and deep red with a very obvious samurai theme. Both of it's arms had shields and one arm had a blade coming from it. Yama dropped himself down across from the blond and grinned, fishing a controller out of his jacket pocket.

The announcer woman grinned at the two fighters and held out a tray to the blond. She dropped a wad of bills in it and pulled out her own controller. The announcer held the tray to Yama who dropped his own stack of money into it. The announcer covered the tray and tucked it under her arm.

“Only one of these bots will come out in tact. Will it be Yama's robot, or his challenger's?” She paused for effect and glanced around at the crowd. “Begin!” She stepped elegantly out of the way, settling in the crowd next to Tadashi. Tadashi glanced at her for a second before he focused back on the fight.

In the few seconds he'd looked away, Yama's bot had been forced to defend itself from the blond's bot that was delivering an onslaught of downward cuts with it's claw hands. Yama's red bot alternated between which arm blocked, although it was predominantly the one without a blade. Tadashi watched with barely concealed awe. Maybe _this_ was why Hiro fought robots. Being able to see peoples' genius at work. Tadashi gasped in surprise when the wiry robot cut through one of the red robot's shields. The red robot stumbled back until it fell and the wiry robot bore down on it.

“Yama's won't come out in tact,” the blond said in a cocky voice as she positioned her robot's arms in an X. “Night, night Samurai.” The robot swung its arms down and the blond let out a surprised scream when the blade from Yama's robot sliced her wiry robot's hands clean off.

Yama grunted. “What was that, little girl?” he asked, laughing loudly. He directed the blade to slice the wiry bot's head off and he continued his loud laughing as the bot fizzed and crackled before toppling over. Tadashi thought he could defeat _that_? Scratch that, Hiro had somehow managed to defeat that? His hands were definitely sweating against his robot. Tadashi felt bad for the blond who scooped up her ruined robot and scurried out of the arena. He distantly heard the door slam shut over the jeers and cheers of the crowd. The announcer sidled up to Yama and offered him the winnings from her tray before she slipped quietly back to her spot by Tadashi. “Who's next?” Yama shouted, fist pumping in the air so his winnings were on display.

Tadashi swallowed. This was a bad idea. He should just go home and lay in bed for the rest of his life. This wasn't him. The bot fighting, the insecurity in what he was doing, the sweaty palms. None of that was Tadashi Hamada. Being close to Hiro, though, that was him. That was why he was there, right? He was there to be with Hiro, to remember the confidence he'd had when Hiro was around, to remember who he was with his shining light of a baby brother. Tadashi wasn't himself since Hiro died, he knew that. The problem was, Tadashi didn't know who he was without Hiro to get up in the morning for and come home at night for. That's what he was doing there, bot fighting. He was there to be as close to Hiro as he could be. Taking a deep breath through his nose, Tadashi looked around. The announcer woman was smiling knowingly at him. What did that mean?

“Is no one brave enough to challenge Yama?” Yama shouted, pushing himself to his feet. He eyed the crowd closest to him, slowly looking from one face to another. Tadashi looked away when Yama got to him. “You?!” the large bot fighter shouted. “I remember you! You and that little boy got me arrested!” The crowd murmured around Tadashi and he felt a hand on his shoulder before he was shoved violently into the arena. He stumbled to an awkward stop and met Yama's gaze. “Are you here to scam me too?”

Tadashi frowned. “He didn't scam you. _You_ underestimated _him_.” His tone was surprisingly firm and Yama seemed startled by that because he scowled.

“He tried to hustle me!” Yama announced. A few people booed Tadashi who only continued to frown. “Let's fight then!” Tadashi set his robot down in the arena and stepped out, dropping to his knees on the pillow. Yama shoved a fistful of cash into his jacket and held out the rest to the announcer woman. She flitted over and offered him her tray. Yama slammed his money down and she moved over to Tadashi who fished out some money and set it down gently. She snapped the lid over the tray and gave Tadashi an easy grin.

“Yama versus this challenger. Who will come out on top?” she shouted. Across the yard, people started yelling and cheering. Tadashi repressed a shudder and pulled out the controller for his robot from his hoodie pocket. He shifted into a comfortable position on his knees while Yama dropped down and folded his legs underneath himself. “Go!” In a quick motion, she was back out of the arena, hovering just where Tadashi had been standing.

Nervously, Tadashi flicked his bot on. It was a simple design, at least in his mind. It had taken him three weeks to get it just right while trying to hide it from Aunt Cass and Baymax. He didn't want Baymax to think for a second that Tadashi preferred fighting robots, and he didn't want Aunt Cass to catch on and cause a scene to stop him from going to the arena.

The robot stood about a foot tall and it was solid black, except for it's eyes. The bot's eyes glowed red. Tadashi had equipped it with several tools stored in it's arms for easy switching. He wanted it to be able to take apart any robot it came in contact with. Making it light had been difficult, so one arm had a multi-tool pocket knife built in, the actual knife as it's default defense. The other arm, after much deliberation, had a lightweight hammer that Tadashi had filed down so the winged ends were dangerously sharp. The hammer could rotate between the head or the wings being the main weapon. His bot wasn't terribly wide, nor was it thin. He'd tried to build it to be swift and able to dodge more so than he wanted it to take a hit.

Tadashi shifted and his fingers flew into action. His bot swiped at Yama's with it's knife only to be blocked by the red robot. The red robot swung it's own blade down and Tadashi moved his fingers quickly across his controller, the hammer flipping out to block the red robot's blade from doing any damage. Tadashi briefly got to revel in the annoyed look on Yama's face before the red robot knocked Tadashi's aside with its shredded shield. Tadashi's eyes flashed in irritation and his robot rolled away as the red bot tried to bear down on it.

With deft fingers, Tadashi urged his robot to it's feet and retracted the blade. He smiled slightly at Yama's confused expression and flipped out the cork screw. He hoped it was the right move. Tadashi urged his robot forward and the cork screw began spinning. Before it could hit the red robot's chest, it was sliced clean off. Roars of excitement exploded around them and Tadashi switched it back to the knife. Tadashi swallowed and swung his robot's hammer at the red robot's blade. The two collided and cracks appeared along the length of the blade. Tadashi's triumph was short lived when Yama hit a few buttons and the shield rolled back to reveal at whirring saw.

Trying to think fast, Tadashi flipped the hammer around so the wings were the weapon. He moved the bot down under the saw and motioned the hammer wings to tear into the red robot's body. He was successful in that, only to have the red robot bring it's saw down through the hammer arm. With nothing holding it against the red bot, Tadashi's bot fell back before he could make it move.

“This is for hustling Yama!” Yama announced, bringing the saw down to slice through Tadashi's robot vertically. Tadashi tightened his grip on his controller for a few seconds before letting out a heavy sigh. “Next time, don't fight your puny friend's battles for him. Not that he would have won again, of course.”

Tadashi stuffed his controller back in his hoodie and stood, moving into the arena to grab his robot. He reached Yama's bot and tugged out the disconnected arm, jumping in surprise when a shadow was cast over him. Tadashi peered up and frowned at Yama who was now hovering over him and the robot.

“Tell that puny idiot,” Tadashi clenched his hand around his robot's lost arm at the insult, “that no one can defeat Yama and that the next time I see his stupid,” another insult and Tadashi's grip tightened, “face, I will kick his tiny butt into next year. He will never bot fight in this city again because we don't tolerate sore losers and cheaters here.” Yama grinned cruelly down at Tadashi, almost challenging him to say something against what he just said.

Tadashi reveled, he definitely _reveled_ , in the look of surprise that overtook Yama's face when Tadashi punched him in the jaw.

“Do not talk about him,” Tadashi warned, his eyes cold. Yama stood in front of him, temporarily stunned by Tadashi's actions. “Don't you ever talk about Hiro.” Tadashi pulled his robot's pieces to himself and turned, walking away from the broad man behind him. He choked in surprise when his hood was grabbed and he was yanked back. Tadashi slammed against a firm chest and cringed when the grip when from his hoodie to his shoulders.

“You think you can hit me and walk away?” Yama's harsh voice demanded. Without waiting for an answer, he shoved Tadashi into the crowd. “Tear him apart.”

Tadashi slammed into an intimidating woman who tore his robot out of his hands and threw the pieces to the ground. Beside her, another woman and a man began smashing the bits of his robot he had left. The first woman twisted Tadashi's arms behind his back and shoved him at another person. He was released in time to be punched in the jaw with surprising force. Tadashi stumbled back and took another punch to his stomach. He coughed at the force of the punch and brought his arms in front of his face as the person tried to hit his temple.

He dodged the punch after that and threw all of his weight at the person attacking him. Tadashi managed to elbow the person in the nose before he was thrown off of the person. He slammed into the wall of the building and shrunk in on himself as a few people began to surround him. Outside of the small circle around him, he could hear other people fighting with each other. Was that what Yama wanted? A yard-wide fight that would probably end the bot fights for the night? One of the people looming over Tadashi kicked him in the side and he grunted painfully, hand flying to where he'd been kicked.

“Stop fighting!” Yama's voice boomed over the ruckus. The sounds of shouting continued, and Tadashi figured that he had just set off a yard fight that wouldn't end. He was drawn away from his thoughts by a kick to his stomach and he gagged, hunching over in an attempt at protecting himself.

The next hit was less powerful, and for the first time in a while Tadashi was glad to hear the sounds of police sirens. He stayed curled in on himself, though, even while people around him started screaming and yelling. He figured they were trying to escape. The yard was swarming with police officers before most of the people had a chance to save themselves. Tadashi flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder and didn't look up when two sets of hands hauled him up.

“What's your name?” a gruff voice demanded. Tadashi was beginning to hate that question.

“Tadashi Hamada,” he mumbled. His arms were forced behind his back and he held back a sigh.

“Tadashi Hamada, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you...”

* * *

Aunt Cass picked him up with a disappointed frown on her face. She didn't bother to yell at him, she only stared at him sadly as she walked him to the truck. The ride home was filled with a tense kind of silence that Tadashi desperately wanted to escape. He'd rather his aunt just yell at him, scold him, something. The disappointed silence pressed down on him and made it feel hard to breathe. When they pulled up to the Lucky Cat Cafe, Aunt Cass shut the truck off and stared at him for a few seconds.

“Tadashi,” she began. She clutched her keys in her hand and shook her head, popping her door open. “What would your parents say?” What a low blow. “What would _Hiro_ say?” He watched his aunt slide out of the car and slam the door behind her. After a few moments of just watching her walk to the cafe door and unlock it, Tadashi climbed out of the car himself. Aunt Cass locked it from inside and he dragged his feet as he went in the cafe as well. He swung the door shut behind him and locked it. Tadashi's hand shook on the cafe lock and he took a breath, turning to face his aunt.

The short haired woman was sitting down, her head in her hands. Tadashi could see her shaking and hear her shaky breaths. She didn't look up as Tadashi trailed passed her. He hesitated on the first step of the stairs and watched her. Her shoulders trembled and it seemed like she was sobbing silently. Guilt flooded Tadashi and he practically sprinted up the stairs and into his room, not wanting to face the hurt he was undoubtedly causing Aunt Cass.

Baymax was there when he slipped into his room and Tadashi only sighed at the sight of his vinyl robot.

“Hello, Tadashi,” Baymax greeted.

“Hi, Baymax,” Tadashi replied softly, bending over to pull his shoes off. He tossed them into his half of the room, his hoodie following. “What's up, buddy?”

“You were gone for quite some time,” the robot informed him. Tadashi chuckled and walked further into the room, sitting down in the chair at Hiro's desk. “I was worried. May I scan you to make sure you are alright?”

Tadashi spun the chair around so he was facing Baymax. “Sure, buddy, scan me.”

“Scan complete. You seem to have bruises along your torso and one on your jaw. If you are in pain, you should take two tablets of Tylenol. Otherwise, do not stress or strain your body and you shall heal up just fine.” Baymax tilted his head to the side. “Do you require Tylenol?”

The brunette shook his head. “I'm fine, Baymax.” He brought his hand up absently to rub his jaw and huffed. “Definitely fine,” he insisted quietly, dropping his hand back to his lap. His ego was what was mostly harmed. His ego and his little brother. Tadashi couldn't let Yama think he'd won. He couldn't let his first bot fight be his last and let some underground bot fighter trash talk his little brother's name. Tadashi couldn't, and wouldn't, back down and take the verbal abuse he'd been given while his bot got destroyed. He clenched his hands into fists tightly and took a deep breath. In a quick motion, Tadashi pushed himself out of the chair and grabbed his shoes, slipping them on quickly. “I'll be back, Baymax,” he said, glancing around the room for his wallet. He spotted it on Hiro's bed and snatched it up.

“May I come with you?” Baymax asked. “I am your personal healthcare companion. I should be on hand at all times in case of injury.” Tadashi stopped at the top of the bedroom stairs and looked at Baymax for a long minute.

“Okay,” he finally said. “Let's go.”

The lights were all off when Tadashi and Baymax got downstairs. Even the stove light was off, and Aunt Cass usually left that on in case anyone needed a midnight glass of water. Tadashi frowned at the sight but continued down into the cafe. The chair his aunt had been sitting in was pushed out haphazardly, like Aunt Cass had left in a hurry. He sighed and pushed the chair in before he led Baymax out the door, using the spare key to lock it shut behind him.

“Tadashi?” Baymax asked. Tadashi glanced at him before pushing the button for the walk signal. “Where are we going?”

Tadashi grabbed Baymax's hand and pulled the robot across the street with him. “WalMart.”

“Again?”

“Again,” he confirmed, giving his robot an easy smile.

“Will we be picking up similar materials as we did last time?” The robot tilted his head to the side and looked down at the human tugging him along.

“Sort of,” Tadashi said thoughtfully. “It has to be better. Carbon fiber.”

“Should I also have carbon fiber?” Baymax wondered. Tadashi chuckled.

“You're a nursebot, Baymax,” the brunette informed him. “Would carbon fiber make you look huggable?” Tadashi peered up at the robot who shook his head twice.

“Carbon fiber would not make me a better healthcare companion. And I am not made for fighting.”

Tadashi nodded. “Exactly,” he reassured. “Although you do have multiple access ports...” He sighed and shook his head. “I doubt they would let a bot as big as you in a bot fight. Plus...” Tadashi poked Baymax's vinyl stomach. “You're my nursebot. I like you just the way you are. Now let's get to WalMart. It's kind of chilly tonight.”


	4. Nineteen Weeks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I am _so_ sorry this took so long to post! Chapter 5 still isn't finished and I'm seriously struggling with it, but I figured since I haven't posted a chapter in almost 3 weeks, I think it's 3 weeks, I would post chapter 4 now. Please forgive me and know that I'm trying even though I'm struggling. On the bright side, this story should be only about 10 or 11 chapters long! Also, feel free to nag me on here or on [tumblr](http://jordixchin.tumblr.com/) to update/write/get feedback on w.i.p chapters.
> 
> This chapter gets pretty talk-y and action-y, so I'm happy about that. It does set everything into motion, though, and I have a really good idea of what happens in the later chapters 'cause like I said, it should only be about 10 or 11 chapters.
> 
> Big shout out to Sara again because she's helped me so much with chapter 4 and she's been helping me when she can with chapter 5. Okay, now enough from me. On with the story!

A wad of cash was crammed haphazardly into the pockets of a pair of brown jeans. The corner of a hundred dollar bill poked out awkwardly and a penny clattered to the cement. Tadashi Hamada quickly grabbed the black robot that was his and he adjusted his hat on his head. He peered up at the grouchy man in front of him and grinned, although it didn't meet his coffee colored eyes.

“I won fair and square,” Tadashi stated, surprised by the confidence in his voice. That was new. He tightened his grip on his robot nonetheless. Just because he sounded confident didn't mean he was confident. Tadashi squared his shoulders but averted his gaze when the man stepped toward him, making their height difference even more pronounced.

Tadashi flinched when a hand clapped him on the shoulder, and his eyes flashed up to meet the man's face. He blinked at the broad grin the man wore.

“Good game, kid,” he complimented. He gave Tadashi a firm shake and the brunette stumbled back a few steps. “Get outta here before some jerk calls the cops.” Tadashi frowned at the man for a long moment and nodded, turning to leave. He ducked into the crowd and tugged his hat low on his head. The claps on his shoulder and shouts of his name didn't distract him, although he had enough respect to lift a hand in acknowledgment every few seconds.

He let out a slight groan when someone caught his arm and spun him around. Tadashi smiled slightly when he saw that the source of the grab was a small older man with a broad grin on his face.

“Kid!” the old man said excitedly. “You won me back like two grand!”

Tadashi shifted his feet and body so he was hunched over the old man, keeping their conversation between their two bodies. “Good. Sorry I wasn't here to stop you betting on that angry kid last week.” He smiled apologetically at the old man.

“It's okay,” the man replied with a shrug. “I should have waited for you to get in the ring before betting on anyone. I can always count on you winning.”

Tadashi wrinkled his nose. “Not always, you know that.”

The old man laughed. “True. When I don't show up, you get your butt kicked! If I didn't know any better, I'd think you only fought to win this old man his rent money.”

“Well, maybe I do,” Tadashi joked. He cast a glance around them, glad to see no one was paying the two of them any mind.

The old man stared at him for a few seconds before he reached up and grabbed Tadashi's chin, pulling him down so their noses bumped. “Kid, who's gonna win this match?” Tadashi could have gagged at the man's breath but he held his composure and jerked back, looking toward the ring. A man Tadashi didn't recognize with an orange robot was fighting one of the regulars whose bot was annoyingly fast and had a debilitating electric shock to boot. The orange robot seemed to be holding it's own, but Tadashi figured it would get shredded. No bot that went into the ring against that particular regular came out.

The brunette hunched back in and whispered, “The regular. Don't put any money on the orange robot or you'll regret it.” The old man leaned back and stared at him before he clapped Tadashi on the shoulders. Tadashi staggered at the force of the old man's clap, glad that he was held in place by the same thing that caused him to stumble.

“You never steered me wrong before,” the old man said decidedly. He gave Tadashi a firm shake and released him, spinning around and marching into the crowd, shouting, “James! Two grand against the orange bot!”

Tadashi stared after the old man, smiling in confusion. In his short three weeks of bot fighting, Tadashi found that this particular old man was always good for conversation, a little pick-me-up, and a promise of someone betting on him. There was a shout from the ring and that spurred Tadashi back into gear. He readjusted his hat again, clutched his robot to his chest, and took off through the crowd to the back gate of the yard. He slipped out, shutting the gate firmly behind him. He didn't want to be the reason the cops decided to investigate the yard whose gate was conveniently left open. He paused just outside the gate and shook his head at the sounds of the crowd cheering for one of the fighters. If they got caught, he definitely wouldn't be the cause for it.

Tadashi sighed, tucked his robot under his arm, and shoved his hands into his pockets, he right hand brushing the winnings he had shoved carelessly into his pocket. He clenched his fist around the money for a brief second and set off down the alley the gate had led to. He dodged an overflowing trash can and kept a brisk pace until he was out of the alley. Tadashi took a deep breath and glanced to his right. The smell of salt water was sort of alluring to him and he wondered when the last time he took a walk down the pier was. Deciding the time of night didn't matter, Tadashi set off down the sidewalk toward the pier.

The walk was longer than Tadashi remembered. Or maybe it was just the fact that he hadn't taken a walk to the pier in months. Tadashi really couldn't remember the last time he had gone to the pier. It had to have been with Hiro, though. That thought alone caused Tadashi to freeze in his tracks. He couldn't remember going to the pier with Hiro. Tadashi's fists clenched tightly in his pockets and he squeezed his eyes shut, desperately fighting the tears. He was done crying. He needed to be done crying. All he'd done for that first month following Hiro's death was cry. His brother had been gone for almost five months. Nineteen long, long weeks. One hundred and thirty-three days that felt like an eternity. He missed Hiro, he desperately missed Hiro, but Tadashi didn't want to cry.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to unclench his hands. Once his breathing wasn't harsh or shaky, Tadashi opened his eyes and took an unsteady step forward. When his legs continued to work, Tadashi started to walk again. His pace returned brisk and the walk continued to feel like it was miles. The smell of salt water got stronger the more he walked, though, which was his only reassurance that he was making progress.

Tadashi's shoulders relaxed when he spotted the pier and his pace slowed significantly. He came to a stop at the edge of the pier and he gazed out across the water. His heart ached, painfully so. Tadashi imagined he could hear Hiro, laughing as he tried to push Tadashi into the cold water. His breath caught at the thought. Hiro would love looking out at the ocean at night. Tadashi had never let him, too worried that they might get mugged or arrested. He let out a laugh at the thought of them getting arrested; they both had arrests under their belts now. Night walking at the pier wouldn't have made a difference in the long run.

“Sorry, Hiro,” Tadashi said aloud, smiling down at the inky water. “I shouldn't have worried too much about us getting arrested. What would Mom and Dad say?” He snorted at his own words and shook his head, continuing to smile as his mind went on a whirl of scenarios in which their parents and Hiro were alive and their parents could see the arrests on their records.

In a quick movement, Tadashi dropped down to the pier, hanging his legs over the edge. His feet only barely missed the water and he sighed. He uncomfortably shifted his arms to get a hold on his black robot. Tadashi ran his thumb over the smiling yellow face and he dropped it down onto the pier beside his leg. He hunched over, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands holding his chin up. He set his gaze on the water, content to just watch the loose waves roll and listen to the gentle sound of the water moving. It relaxed him, something Tadashi severely needed. He was constantly tense the past four months. He couldn't convince himself to relax; his body was simply in action mode. This was nice, and Tadashi briefly wondered if he should make a habit of sitting at the pier late at night.

The streetlamps were reflected dimly in the water, only disrupted by periodic small waves. It was sort of pretty. Tadashi let out a soft sigh that turned into a surprised hum when the waves became larger. A particularly large wave hit the toes of Tadashi's shoes and he frowned, sitting himself upright on the pier.

At first, Tadashi didn't see anything that would cause the water to be disrupted. His body was tense again, though. Something felt off, not that Tadashi could pinpoint what it was. The ocean became more disturbed and Tadashi drew his legs up to his chest to keep his shoes relatively dry.

“What in the...?” He muttered to himself, eyes frantically scanning the ocean around him. Nothing. He couldn't see anything abnormal. Were there monsters in the ocean that no one knew about? Tadashi snorted at the very thought. Someone would have found out and reported monsters in the San Fransokyo bay before that moment. Well, he hoped. Cautiously, Tadashi pushed himself to his feet. What was disturbing the water?

There was a flicker of white in Tadashi's peripheral vision and he turned quickly to face it. He could faintly make out what looked to be a white mask just hovering over the water. When he squinted at the mask, he noted several red markings. Beyond that, Tadashi couldn't identify anything else. He took a wary step back when the mask surged forward over the ocean and he clenched his hands into fists. His heart was thudding almost painfully in his chest as the white mask approached him. That was silly, right? It wasn't actually going after _him_ , just in his general direction.

No, it was definitely going after him. In a panic, Tadashi stepped to his left in the direction of the street. If he could get off the pier and onto the street, the maniac in the white mask would leave him alone. That was what Tadashi hoped anyway. He didn't want to be chased by a white mask. He didn't want to engage with the white mask at all. Tadashi took another step left, flinching in surprise when the mask appeared right in front of him. He registered that the mask was being worn by a person, but mostly his brain was wondering how the person moved so fast.

Tadashi opened his mouth to ask who the person was and all that escaped him was a squeak. The person only stared at him. Tadashi took a shaky breath and stepped to the left. He let out a yell when something wrapped around his right leg and lifted him off of the pier. Tadashi flailed for a few moments before his legs were wrapped together and his arms were pinned to his sides.

“Who are you?” Tadashi managed to ask in a harsh whisper, trying to focus on the white mask now that he was upside down. The masked person only tilted their head to the side. Whatever was holding Tadashi tightened around his body and he winced. “What-?” he began, only to be cut off by more pressure on his body. Tadashi scrunched up his face, trying to ignore the pain.

He dangled in the air for what felt like years before the masked person simply dropped him to the pier. Tadashi groaned when he landed on his neck and quickly rolled so he was on his side. His arm hit something cloth and he glanced down, frowning at his hat. Of course it had fallen off while he was being manhandled. Shakily, Tadashi grabbed his hat and pushed himself to his feet. The masked person was still hovering there in front of him.

Tadashi stared at the masked person. “How are you...?” he trailed off and slowly turned his head to look above him at what had released him.

His breath caught in his chest and he reached up, running his fingers over the small ridges along what had held him. They felt familiar, painfully so. They looked just as familiar, but it should have been impossible. All of them had been in the fire. No one but Hiro knew how to make them and the fire had destroyed theme. What was in front of him completely contradicted his knowledge, though. The masked person was using microbots. _Hiro's_ microbots.

When Tadashi spoke, his voice was shockingly calm. “Where did you get these?” he demanded. “ _How_ did you get these?” Tadashi's hands curled into fists, his left hand tightening over his SFIT hat. “How did you get these microbots?!” His voice echoed around them and the masked person didn't move. They didn't even seem phased by Tadashi's shouting. “These are Hiro's! How did you get Hiro's microbots? Answer me!” The masked person stayed silent. Tadashi's eyes burned angrily. Someone had stolen Hiro's tech. “Tell me!” Tadashi shouted.

In a silent response, the masked man lifted a hand and gestured at Tadashi. With that simple gesture, Tadashi was sent flying down the pier. The right side of his body ached and he landed harshly in his back, skidding along the sidewalk a few feet before coming to a complete stop. Tadashi groaned and attempted to push himself up, grunting in surprise when his torso was slammed down by and encased in microbots. Tadashi gasped in pain when, much like before, the microbots clamped down around him. His breath started getting short and black spots invaded his vision.

Tadashi gagged when a rope of microbots wrapped around his neck and pressed in. His vision swam and went totally black for a few seconds. When he could see again, the masked person was standing over him, head tilted to the side almost contemplatively. The person held their hand over Tadashi, fingers spread and palm flat.

Terror spiked through Tadashi for a second and then the man curled his hand into a fist. Pain exploded in his chest and around his neck. He gagged uselessly and wriggled his shoulders in what he knew was a pointless attempt at getting free of the microbots. His vision was spotty and he hurt all over. Then, all at once, the pain stopped and he slumped pathetically onto the ground. Tadashi coughed desperately and he helplessly tossed his head around, spots of light clogging up most of his vision. He couldn't see the masked person anymore and part of Tadashi hoped that the person had taken pity on him and left, although the more logical conclusion was that he thought Tadashi was dead and ran off.

Tadashi groaned pathetically and closed his eyes, only to snap them open again. Closing them burned, but keeping them open burned too. Spots continued to dance across his vision. With obvious effort, Tadashi pushed himself up, using his trembling arms to support him. His arms quickly gave out and his head smacked back against the concrete. He saw solid black for a few seconds and his ears started ringing. They were still ringing when he opened his eyes. Maybe this was dying. Maybe the masked person was right in thinking he was dying. Everything hurt, and Tadashi just wanted to close his eyes and have it all go away. He half hoped that the next time he opened his eyes, he'd see Hiro and their parents.

Tadashi slid his eyes shut and ignored the burn just shy of where his eyelids would open. The pain would go away if he could just shut his mind off. There were spots dancing across the black of his eyelids, but the spots were fading. Tadashi wanted everything to go away. If he woke up, he would address the issue of the masked person and Hiro's microbots. Part of Tadashi hoped that he wouldn't have to address that issue.

* * *

Tadashi groaned pitifully and then winced at the pain groaning caused his chest. Blindly, the brunette rolled over and curled in on himself, his breath hitching as pain fluttered across his chest. He pressed his hands to his chest and felt something in his left hand. With quite the amount of effort, Tadashi opened his eyes and looked down at himself. His SFIT hat was clutched tightly in his hand and Tadashi wondered if he'd been holding it all night. All night... Where was he anyway? He strained his ears, struggling to place his location. It didn't feel like he was laying on his bed at home, and he was pretty sure his house didn't sound like the ocean. There wasn't a bay or a lake or anything to cause the sound of waves near the Lucky Cat Cafe. Did that mean he was still at the pier? He had hoped that was a bad dream.

“Tadashi?” a familiar synthetic voice asked. Tadashi groaned. “I have already scanned you for injuries. There is bruising around your neck, torso, and back. You have an abrasion across your lower back that needs cleaned and bandaged immediately, and you have a bruised rib that should also be bandaged immediately.”

“Baymax?” Tadashi asked, cringing at how raspy his voice was.

“Yes,” the nursebot replied. Tadashi blinked down at his hat and sighed hoarsely. “I am going to sit you up now, Tadashi. Please do not move while I do so.” Tadashi nodded his agreement but tensed nonetheless when one of Baymax's plush hands slid under his head. The robot's other hand rested gently on Tadashi's stomach and the robot shifted Tadashi into a sitting position with great care. He glanced around when he was sat up and internally groaned; he was still at the pier. It hadn't been a bad dream. “Please lean forward so I can clean your back.”

Tadashi acquiesced with little difficulty, pulling himself out of his thoughts. Pain flowered in his chest when he leaned forward and he winced. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that would force the pain away. Behind him, Baymax pushed up both his hoodie and his shirt. Tadashi winced when the nursebot sprayed antibacterial spray over the scrape along his back.

“I am sorry if it burns,” Baymax stated. Tadashi let out a wheeze that was supposed to be a laugh and Baymax quickly and carefully bandaged the scrape. “Sit up, please, Tadashi,” the bot requested. The brunette slowly did as he was asked, grimacing when Baymax slid the front of his hoodie and shirt up. “Arms up, please.” Tadashi smiled slightly and held his arms above his head. With skill, Baymax gently wrapped up Tadashi's chest. The nursebot smoothed down Tadashi's shirt and hoodie. “You may put your arms down now. Would you like to stand?” Tadashi dropped his arms and thought about the pros and cons of him standing that very moment.

“I don't think I can walk,” he finally rasped to the robot.

“I can carry you.”

Tadashi wheezed again. “Sure, Baymax...” He let out a scratchy groan when Baymax picked him up like he was a baby. “Home?” he whispered. Baymax simply nodded and turned his back on the pier he'd found Tadashi at, beginning his trek back to the Lucky Cat Cafe. “Hey, Baymax,” Tadashi asked in his raspy voice. “How did you find me?”

Baymax looked down at him for a few seconds before returning his gaze to the road. “I merely tracked your cellphone signal with my scanner,” Baymax said, turning a corner. “When you were not home by eight this morning, your Aunt Cass asked me to come and look for you. I ran a scan for your phone signal and walked around until I found you.” Tadashi nodded mutely and dropped his gaze to his lap where he still held fast to his hat. “Tadashi?” the robot asked after a few minutes of quiet. “What happened? Why were you asleep at the pier?”

Tadashi sighed through his nose. “I'll tell you when we get home,” he stated, his tone firm despite being raspy. His tone left no room for argument, or maybe Baymax just didn't want him to hurt his throat by talking more than necessary, because Baymax only nodded his head and continued his slow pace through San Fransokyo.

Tadashi didn't know how long it took Baymax to get them back to the cafe. He didn't have the flexibility or pain tolerance to dig out his phone and he didn't have the mental energy to keep track of time by counting. He just knew it took Baymax quite a while and a few trolley rides. Tadashi was glad, though, that when they reached the cafe, Baymax had the sense to take the entrance around back that lead to the living room instead of going through the cafe to get to the living room.

“I will take you to your room and then let your aunt know that you are home safe,” Baymax informed Tadashi as he made his way to the stairs. The robot waddled slowly up the stairs and gently deposited Tadashi onto Hiro's bed. The brunette didn't have the energy to argue with the robot and settled in, kicking off his shoes to help him get comfortable. Baymax stayed in the room until Tadashi stopped moving around on the bed and Tadashi watched the nursebot waddled back down the bedroom stairs.

Tadashi sighed and brought up his right hand to touch his neck. He winced when his fingers brushed where he assumed the bruises were. That was one injury he wouldn't be able to hide. He could lie about the bruised rib and hide the scrape on his back, but Aunt Cass would probably zone in on his neck right away. Tadashi swallowed, grimacing at the pain swallowing caused him. He wasn't sure what he would tell Aunt Cass at all. He planned on telling Baymax exactly what happened, if only to let _someone_ know. Aunt Cass, though? Knowing that he was thrown around like a rag doll by a weirdo in a mask controlling Hiro's stolen, not destroyed but _stolen_ , microbots wouldn't do his aunt any good. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew he had been causing Aunt Cass a lot of stress the past five months. This would make things a lot worse for her he was sure.

The brunette groaned and rubbed gently at his throat. When Baymax came back, he'd ask about a cough drop or some tea. As if summoned by Tadashi's thoughts, the familiar vinyl squeaking sounded on the staircase. Tadashi watched as Baymax slowly made his way up the stairs and into the bedroom.

“Can I get you anything?” Baymax asked instantly. Tadashi felt affection swell in his chest. Baymax was just doing his programmed job, but Tadashi did appreciate it at that moment. (If he was being honest with himself, he'd appreciated all Baymax had done since he was accidentally activated. Even when he acted like he hated it.)

“A, a cough drop?” Tadashi requested. “Or tea... Whichever works.” He swallowed harshly and Baymax waddled over, holding out a cough drop to Tadashi. With some effort, he took the cough drop in his right hand and opened it with his teeth, sucking down the drop happily.

“Tadashi,” the robot began as the brunette in question sucked on the cough drop. “Why were you at the pier so late at night? What caused your injuries? I would like to know so I may better prevent this from happening to you again.”

The human on the bed sucked firmly on the cough drop, staring up at Baymax with a blank expression in his eyes.

“Someone...” Tadashi sighed and looked away, setting his gaze on his hands, one of which still had his SFIT hat clutched tightly. Tadashi made a face and let the hat go, flexing out his fingers as he did so. “Someone attacked me.”

“Who?” the nursebot wondered.

Tadashi shook his head weakly. “I-I don't know... He didn't say... He didn't even _talk_ , Baymax. How am I supposed to know?” He wanted to yell, he really did. His throat ached, though. Even whispering harshly burned his throat and the cough drop alone was hardly enough to balance out the burn fast enough. Tadashi could feel his anger building in his stomach. He wasn't mad at Baymax, he was mad at himself and mad at that masked man. He was angry that he wasn't able to do anything. All he'd had was a tiny robot. A robot that... That got left at the pier. Tadashi squeezed his eyes shut at the thought of leaving that little guy all alone.

“What did he do to you?” Baymax's voice interrupted his thoughts of his bot fighting robot.

Tadashi swished the cough drop to rest in his left cheek instead of his right and spoke. “He had... He had Hiro's microbots. He-he...” His throat tightened and he sniffled.

“What is a microbot, Tadashi?”

Tadashi wheezed a sad laugh. “Something Hiro designed to get into my school. Tiny robots, really small robots, that could link up together and do anything the person in control thought. And someone...” Tadashi's hands curled into fists as he spoke. “Someone _stole them_. They were- I thought they got destroyed in the fire.”

“There was a fire?” Baymax asked.

“It was the fire Hiro died in, Baymax,” Tadashi explained impatiently. “They were _destroyed_. I thought they were. But... someone stole them from the fire. Someone stole my baby brother's tech.” He pressed his fists against his eyes and took a shaky breath. “Someone stole his work. He died and someone is tainting his memory. Someone is _tainting_ Hiro, Baymax.” Tadashi took another shaky breath.

For a moment, Baymax was quiet. And then, “Your neurotransmitters are low again, Tadashi. In my database of personal loss and grief, it suggests that contact with your friends and your loved ones can help you heal.”

Tadashi snorted and winced at the pain that caused. “I don't want them right now, Baymax,” he whispered sadly.

“My treatment recommendation is to be with your friends,” Baymax pressed. “I will email them right now.”

Tadashi jerked at those words and sat up with such force that he had to double over and hold his chest in pain. Tears pricked his eyes as his torso throbbed at his thoughtless motions. He whimpered into his lap and flinched when Baymax touched his shoulder, the flinch only further jarring his torso and causing him more pain.

“I have emailed your friends, Tadashi,” Baymax informed him. “Please, lie back onto the bed again. On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?”

Gingerly, Tadashi shifted himself to lay back, Baymax's hand guiding him. “Ten,” he managed to say, his tone bitter.

“I will get you some Tylenol and some tea, Tadashi,” Baymax informed him. Tadashi made a sound of agreement and squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that laying down would help ease the pain until Baymax made the tea. He listened to the sound of the vinyl nursebot walking away and down the stairs and sighed gently through his nose.

Tadashi didn't want to talk to his friends. He didn't want them to push him, to nag him. He wanted to heal emotionally at his own pace. He knew it would be easier with a support system, but Tadashi didn't want that. He didn't want his friends around him, he didn't want to share his feelings with them and he didn't want them to be privy to his memories of Hiro. Tadashi wanted to keep everything to and for himself. He could only hope that Baymax's email would get sorted into his old friends' spam boxes.

The brunette sighed and tried to relax into Hiro's bed, tried to tell his body that he was safe. It was proving very difficult. The pain hadn't even quelled by the time Baymax returned, but at least his cough drop was gone. The nursebot popped two tablets of Tylenol into his mouth and helped him sit up to swallow the pills with the tea the bot had made.

“Thank you, Baymax,” Tadashi said hoarsely.

“No need to thank me,” Baymax replied. “It is my job.” Tadashi smiled halfheartedly and let his eyes close. Maybe it was the Tylenol, but he was feeling drowsy. “Rest is ideal for your current physical condition,” Baymax voiced.

“'Kay,” Tadashi answered tiredly. He fell asleep with thoughts of Baymax caring for him and he slept soundly through the rest of the day.

* * *

_Baymax@TadashiHomeComputer.com_ to _HoneyLemonLove@sfit.com, WasabiNoGinger@sfit.com, GogoTomago@sfit.com, fredzilla@usf.com_  
Subject: Tadashi Hamada  
September 10 

_Dear friends of Tadashi,_

_Hello, I am Baymax, Tadashi's personal healthcare companion. I am contacting you to request that you pay a visit to Tadashi at his home. Contact with friends and loved ones can greatly assist a person in dealing with grief and recovering from emotional trauma. I believe Tadashi is in need of this kind of assistance and I am not capable of it. It would benefit Tadashi if you would visit him._

_Baymax_


	5. Nineteen Weeks and One Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! This fic is not dead, I'm not dead! I'm just a huge slacker. Here's chapter 5 part one. I haven't even started chapter 5 part 2, but it'll be all action packed I promise you! It would just be too long to make one whole chapter 5, so splitting it into parts is the best idea for you and me both.
> 
> This chapter has _not_ been proof read, so if you spot any spelling errors (or those weird 'the's where it should be 'to' things), let me know please! Also, I changed my tumblr and now you can bug/nag me about this fic, send me ideas (please! I'm very open to you guys' ideas!), thoughts, or just say hi over on [demiromanticryanhoward](http://demiromanticryanhoward.tumblr.com/). Now enough from me! On with the chapter!

The Lucky Cat Cafe was busy that afternoon. Tadashi was incredibly grateful for the crowds that flowed through the door; it gave him a welcome distraction from all the thoughts plaguing his mind. He couldn't get that horrible masked person out of his head and the simple thought of the person filled him with dread and a healthy dose of rage. He was also completely concerned that his old friends would actually show up at the cafe at Baymax's request. With business so heavy, though, Tadashi didn't have time to worry or make himself angry. He was constantly in motion, moving from one table to the next with his order pad out and pen scribbling across it to keep up with peoples' orders. If he wasn't taking orders, he was cleaning off tables. The constant motion was enough to make him forget about not just the emotional but the physical pain in his chest, but if he stopped for a second to breathe, his chest and neck and back would twinge in pain and remind him that he should be resting, not working. He knew he couldn't rest, though, because as far as Aunt Cass knew, he just had bruises around his neck. He couldn't rest, so he threw himself into working. Between him and Aunt Cass, the customers seemed pretty happy and by noon Tadashi had racked up a hefty amount of tip money.

“Tadashi!” Aunt Cass called. The brunette poked his head into the kitchen and raised his eyebrow. “Table three's order is done.” Tadashi stepped into the kitchen and picked up the table's order. He carefully weaved his way through tables and distributed table three's food with a half-smile. Food delivered, he glanced around to check on everyone else. Tadashi nodded when he noticed table seven needed refills and he darted back to the kitchen, grabbing the ice tea pitcher. He slipped easily over to table seven and refilled their glasses with a polite nod to their smiles.

Across the room, the bell above the cafe door jingled. Tadashi glanced up on auto and called out, “I'll be right with you!” before focusing on getting the ice tea pitcher back to the kitchen. Aunt Cass informed him table nine's order was almost ready and he nodded before stepping back out to greet the new guests.

Tadashi froze for a second at the sight of the people who had walked in. Gogo Tomago stood at the forefront of the group, looking unimpressed in her usual fashion. Wasabi was hovering closely to her right shoulder and Honey Lemon was tucked into Wasabi's side, looking around with a slight smile. Fred, in true Fred fashion that made Tadashi's mouth twitch in amusement, was sandwiched in the middle of it all with a grin across his face. It took Tadashi a second to realize Fred was grinning directly at him, and that alone was enough to wipe away any amusement he'd felt.

It took Tadashi a few seconds to compose himself before he approached the four. “Welcome to the Lucky Cat Cafe,” he said in his best host voice. “Would you like a booth or a table?” He met Gogo's gaze and held it steady as the girl popped a bubble of her gum.

“Booth,” she finally said. Tadashi nodded and gestured for them to follow him. He tucked them in the booth next to the kitchen and plucked the cafe menus out of the condiment stand on the table. He spread them out on the table and pursed his lips.

“What can I get you to drink?” he asked, struggling to keep his tone even.

“Water,” Gogo answered easily, her hard gaze never leaving Tadashi's face.

“Ice tea, please,” Wasabi decided after a moment.

“Do you guys still do those awesome Italian sodas?” Fred wondered, and Tadashi's mouth twitched again.

“We do,” he answered, amusement thick in his voice.

Fred gave him a broad grin. “A vanilla Italian soda, then!” Tadashi nodded and turned his gaze to Honey Lemon, who barely glanced away from the menu to answer.

“Green tea, please,” she murmured.

“Water, ice tea, vanilla Italian soda, green tea,” Tadashi repeated. After getting four nods, he disappeared back into the kitchen. He told his aunt what to make and grabbed table nine's food, taking it to the older couple giggling and flirting at table nine. The couple thanked him with blinding smiles before going right back into flirting with each other. Tadashi grimaced awkwardly and fled to the kitchen, grabbing the drinks for his friends. Well, he wasn't entirely sure that they were still friends although acquaintances seemed cold and strangers even harsher. Tadashi didn't know what to call the four people crammed in the booth.

Trying to maintain his best waiter attitude, Tadashi nodded politely and set out the four drinks.

“Do you know what you want to order?” Tadashi asked as he pulled out his notepad and pen and looked up. Tadashi frowned when he met Gogo's gaze and she outright glared at him.

“Stop acting like we're strangers,” Gogo snapped and Tadashi cringed at her words, dropping his gaze to the table instead. He could feel four pairs of eyes burning into him, though, and he resisted a fully body shudder. “We're your friends, idiot, so you need to stop acting like this.”

“Gogo,” Honey Lemon said softly. Tadashi glanced up at Honey to see her frowning in Gogo's direction, looking mildly disapproving.

“No,” snapped the other girl. Tadashi glanced at her and quickly looked away upon seeing the livid glare still in place. “He _needs_ to talk to us. It's been five months. This is unhealthy. Are you listening to me, Hamada?” Tadashi jumped slightly at the forceful way his name was said and Gogo snorted. When she didn't say anything after, he looked up at her almost nervously and frowned at her frowning at him. “Tadashi...” She began when their eyes met. “You of all people should know-”

Tadashi's body flooded with relief when Gogo was interrupted by the confused shout from the kitchen.

“Tadashi?” Aunt Cass called out. “Where are you? I have this omelet and I don't know where it goes!” Tadashi let out a surprised chuckle at his aunt's words.

“I'll be back to take your order in just a moment,” he told the table of four politely, trying to slip back into his waiter persona. Without waiting for a response, he shoved his notepad and pen into his pocket and took the few steps into the kitchen where his aunt stood with an omelet. She held it like it might bite her and she looked utterly lost.

“I'm sorry,” she said when she saw him. “I would have taken it myself, but-”

“It's fine,” he interrupted easily. “The table I was at was taking too long to order anyway. Give me the omelet.” Aunt Cass quickly passed the plate of egg off to him and he delivered it to table seven just as quickly.

After a quick glance to make sure that none of the other customers needed anything, Tadashi pulled his notepad and pen back out of his pocket and sighed. He took a few seconds to steel himself before he walked back to the table his friends were tucked into.

“Have you decided what to order?” Tadashi asked, making eye contact with all of them for a few seconds. “Or do you need some more time?” There was a brief, almost cold, pause when he met Gogo's gaze again.

“I'll just have a donut. Chocolate, no sprinkles, no filling,” the short girl stated, her voice tight. Tadashi nodded and wrote it down onto his notepad. He turned his gaze to Wasabi.

Wasabi glanced at the menu and hummed for a moment before he nodded and looked back up to Tadashi. “A slice of carrot cake.” Tadashi jotted it down and looked to Fred.

“I want one of those amazing banana and strawberry crepes that your aunt makes!” Fred announced, bouncing in his seat with excitement. Tadashi smiled slightly at the display and added Fred's order to his notepad.

When he turned to Honey, she said softly, “A slice of chocolate pie, please.”

Tadashi finished writing that on his notepad with a flourish. “Alright. It should be about fifteen minutes then. Can I get you anything else? Refills?”

Gogo scoffed. “Maybe your company,” she bit out.

“Gogo!” Honey chided. “We _are_ at his work.”

Tadashi watched Gogo wrinkle her nose at the blond's words. “Whatever,” she muttered. Taking that as a no, they didn't need anything else, Tadashi took his leave. He tore off the order and stuck it just above the stove for his aunt to see. She smiled at him and set to making Fred's crepe.

The brunette glanced at the exit to the kitchen, wondering for a moment if he should go stand with the four and talk to them. He swallowed at the thought and shook his head, instead going further into the kitchen. He got out plates and set about getting the donut, cake, and pie set up and dressed on their plates. It was easy to lose himself in the aesthetics of setting up food. Aunt Cass pulled him out of his focus with Fred's crepe being finished. Tadashi took a few extra seconds to make sure the other food looked perfect and he loaded up the plates and steeled himself to face his friends.

“Crepe,” he murmured, sliding Fred his crepe. “Chocolate pie.” Honey grinned when he set the plate in front of her. “Carrot cake.” Wasabi hummed his approval and took a bite before Tadashi had fully pulled his hand back. “And donut.” It took almost all of Tadashi's self control to not slam Gogo's plate down in front of her and he was proud of himself for being able to hold back. If nothing else, bot fighting taught him how to hide his irritation until he was in a safe space. Tadashi took a deep breath and counted to ten in his head before he spoke again. “Can I get you anything else? Aside from my company, that is.”

“Refill?” Wasabi asked, gesturing to his drink. Tadashi glanced across the table and nodded, grabbing the empty glasses spread out over the table. He slipped back into the kitchen and gathered up what he would need for Fred's drink and the other three's refills and set to work, hoping that after his shift was over he could just go up to his room and have some well earned detox time.

Tadashi should have known luck would be against him. His friends didn't leave. They spent the entirety of Tadashi's work shift in their corner booth by the kitchen and every time Tadashi passed them, he felt a pang of longing that got quickly overrun by irritation at the fact that they were still there. They had long since paid their bill and tipped him rather well, but they didn't leave. As the clock ticked on and the lunch rush rolled to an end, they continued to stay. The evening shift waiter couldn't have shown up soon enough; Tadashi's shoulders were tense and his mouth was twisted in a grimace and he was definitely ready for a quiet night with Baymax and some Tylenol up in his room.

“Tadashi,” Aunt Cass said quietly, drawing his attention away from the night shift guy. He looked at her curiously, his grimace easing away into a confused frown. Aunt Cass put her hand on his shoulder and rubbed it softly. “You can go now. I'm sure you're eager to go out with your friends.”

His confusion turned into annoyance at her words. “What are you talking about, Aunt Cass?” he asked tensely, meeting her light eyes with his. She opened her mouth to speak but snapped it shut, pressing her lips together in what Tadashi recognized as worry. He watched her for a few moments and his shoulders slumped when realization crossed her face.

“I thought you... I thought you'd asked them to come,” his aunt said and he groaned.

“Aunt Cass, I don't want to hang out with anyone,” he informed her in as patient a tone as he could manage given the day he'd just had.

“You _need_ to!” Aunt Cass stated firmly, her hand coming to a stop on his shoulder. “Tadashi, this... Isolation you're putting yourself through isn't healthy. And you didn't come home last night... When Baymax brought you home and I saw that bruise...” Her eyes drifted to his neck that he'd decided to cover with a turtleneck sweater and Tadashi sighed. Aunt Cass snapped her eyes back up to his. “If you're going out, I'd feel a lot better knowing you're with your friends and not... Not passed out somewhere!”

Tadashi groaned again and brought his hand up to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly. He'd been treating his aunt so distantly the past few months; it was easy for her words to fill him with guilt.

“I have to change,” he finally said, dropping his hand in a show of resignation. He didn't look at his aunt before he turned away and exited the kitchen, but he could feel her grin on his back as he walked away from her. Tadashi grumbled under his breath and walked passed his friends' table without sparing them a glance. He continued to grumble all the way into the house and up the stairs and he grumbled as he waved at Baymax who looked up from petting Mochi to greet him.

“Your blood pressure is elevated, Tadashi,” Baymax said as Tadashi kicked off his shoes. The brunette glanced at his nursebot and he tugged his shirt over his head and used it to rub the sweat out of his armpits.

“I'm stressed and tired, Baymax, that's all,” Tadashi informed him, tossing his shirt into his hamper. His jeans went next and he flung open his closet, debating on what to change into.

“I recommend rest,” the nursebot decided. “A good night's sleep should make you feel much better.”

Tadashi sighed and grabbed a pair of black jeans. He struggled into them and rolled up the ankles before looking back to his closet for a clean shirt, or at least a shirt that didn't completely stink of sweat.

“I need to do laundry,” he muttered to himself before replying to Baymax with, “I don't think I'm getting any rest tonight, Baymax.” Tadashi grabbed one of his older, thinner turtlenecks, pretty sure he'd only worn it once in the past two weeks. He pulled the red top down over his head and grabbed the black cardigan hanging on the closet door. He slammed the closet shut and slipped into the cardigan, buttoning the two buttons quickly before he started struggling into his shoes.

“Why?” Baymax asked him. Tadashi shrugged and stepped out of his side of the room. The brunette glanced around Hiro's half for his hat and he grinned when he saw it on the beanbag. He grabbed it and situated it onto his head.

“Aunt Cass told me-”

“Tadashi?”

The adult in question made a face and turned his head toward the stairs.

“I'm here,” he called down to the person who'd interrupted him. “I'll be down in a second. Please don't come up.” He didn't want anyone in their room. This was his and Hiro's room. No one needed to see it, no one needed to be in it. It was _their_ room and he was going to protect that. Even his aunt had given up coming into the bedroom when Tadashi began reacting badly to her presence. Satisfied that no one was going to come up, Tadashi looked back to his nursebot. “I'm apparently going out,” he informed Baymax. The bot tilted his head to the side. “I'm going with Gogo, Honey Lemon, Wasabi, and Fred. I'll be fine.”

Baymax blinked at him and righted his head. “Do not go looking for that masked person, Tadashi,” the bot finally said. “Your friends' company will be very healthy for you. Please focus on that and have fun.” Tadashi let out a breathy chuckle.

“Okay, well,” began the human, “your rules are...” He trailed off and eyed Baymax for a few seconds. Maybe his time with his friends would be better with Baymax there. Baymax was programmed to take care of his patients, and Tadashi was his main patient. Baymax would have no problems telling his friends to back off if Tadashi started to get completely overwhelmed and the nursebot would be the first to suggest Tadashi going home after a certain time. “On second thought. How about you come with me?”

Tadashi watched the nursebot nod and set Mochi down onto Hiro's bed before he climbed to his feet. "Before we go," Baymax began and Tadashi tipped his head to the side, wrinkling his nose when that strained the bruise he had. "You need to take some pain medication. The best way to manage your pain is to take medication as the last dose begins to wear off."

Sighing, Tadashi nodded and glanced around Hiro's room, looking for a water bottle and his Tylenol bottle. There was always at least one bottle of water within arm's reach since Baymax had been activated and Baymax had practically forced the Tylenol on him that morning before work. He spotted a half empty water bottle on his half of the room and moved to get it, not surprised to find the Tylenol bottle sitting next to it. In a few quick motions, Tadashi downed two tablets of the pain medicine and tucked the bottle in his front pocket.

" _Now_ can we go?" Tadashi asked, his tone affectionately exasperated. Baymax nodded, and Tadashi gestured to the stairs, watching in amusement as the vinyl bot waddled to the stairs. Tadashi grinned outright when Baymax began squeezing his way down the steps and he followed after the bot, flipping off the bedroom light as he went.

Baymax was greeted by a series of cheers of his name and Tadashi's grin dimmed down to a slight frown. He was really going to do this. He took a deep breath to calm himself and Baymax finished going down the stairs. The bot hobbled passed the group of four until he was standing behind them, facing Tadashi who was hesitating on the last stair.

“Tadashi,” Honey greeted him with a hesitant smile.

“Hi, Honey Lemon,” he replied with a nod. He glanced at the other three and stepped off the last step decisively. “What's the plan?”

Gogo glared at him and popped a bubble with her gum. “What plan?” she asked tartly.

Tadashi raised his eyebrows at her. “What are you guys doing here then?” He flinched when Gogo snorted at him.

“We were hoping you wanted to hang out,” Wasabi said, taking a step forward to put himself slightly between Gogo and Tadashi. “We thought it would be harder, though.”

At those words, Tadashi looked away, setting his gaze on the wall instead. “Aunt Cass wanted me to go out tonight.”

“Safely,” Baymax added and Tadashi shot him a sharp glare.

“Yeah,” he said bitterly. “She wanted me to go out _safely_.” This was finished with an irritated eye roll.

“Safely?” Honey repeated. “What... Does that mean?”

Before Tadashi could answer, Baymax spoke. “Last night, Tadashi did not come ho-”

“Baymax!” Tadashi snapped, cutting the robot off. He took a deep breath and put his hand on the wall. “It doesn't matter,” he said to his friends in a calmer voice. “What did you guys want to do?”

Wasabi smiled awkwardly. “We didn't actually decide that far ahead.” Tadashi sighed and withdrew his hand from the wall, folding his arms across his chest. He jumped when Fred pushed himself in front of Wasabi with a big grin on his face.

“ _A_ ctually!” he said excitedly. “We can go to my house and watch movies!”

There was a pause following Fred's words where everyone seemed to be holding their breaths. Tadashi blinked down at his friend who only continued to grin up at him, looking much like a child on Christmas.

“You... have a house?” Gogo was the one to break the silence.

“Gogo!” Honey chided.

“What?” Gogo retorted, glancing at Honey Lemon. “I thought he lived under a bridge!”

Tadashi resisted the urge to laugh and settled for a slightly amused smile. Fred, on the other hand, outright laughed at the short girl's words. He spun around to face her in an amazing show of body control and pointed dramatically at Gogo, his finger nearly brushing her nose.

“Yes!” he announced, pulling his arm back. He ducked between Gogo and Wasabi and flung his arm around Gogo's shoulders. “I have a house! And we should go there! We should go, and we should watch movies.”

Gogo wrinkled her nose at him. “I don't want to watch your superhero movies,” she informed him none too kindly.

“Why not?” Tadashi asked, tilting his head to the side. He glanced at everyone and was amused and saddened by the surprised looks all of his friends gave him. “Look, it's been a long day. If I'm going to be spending time with you guys, it needs to be something calm and quiet. I can't...” He closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. “I can't handle... Anything big or overwhelming right now. I probably can't handle anything big for a while.” He reached up and rubbed at his eyes before tucking his arm back against his chest. He blinked his eyes open and glanced at the four in front of him. “So... Movies at Fred's sounds like the best idea.”

It took a lot of self control for Tadashi not to look away from his friends, although he didn't make direct eye contact with any of them. He took a deep breath and focused on Baymax who only blinked.

“... Yeah,” Gogo finally said. “Fred's house. Okay.” Fred squeezed her shoulder and gave her a little bit of a shake and she gave him a look that had him pulling away and slipping back between her and Wasabi to stand in front of Tadashi.

“Okay! I'll call Heathcliff! He can pick us up!” Fred nodded and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Tadashi watched Fred walk away from them and into the kitchen before he asked the others, “Who is Heathcliff?” Gogo shrugged and Wasabi threw Fred a look that seemed both concerned and annoyed. Honey Lemon made a noncommittal sound and shrugged as well.

It took Fred a couple of minutes to make his phone call and then he bounced excitedly back out of the kitchen.

“Heathcliff is on the way!” he informed the group. “He's bringing the van, so Baymax can ride with us!” Tadashi blinked.

“Heathcliff?” Tadashi asked.

Fred nodded rapidly. “Yeah! The family butler.”

Tadashi blinked once and glanced around at the rest of their group. Gogo, Honey, and Wasabi were all staring at Fred with various looks of disbelief on their face. Tadashi couldn't help but laugh outright at the shock and he covered his mouth when the first laugh escaped but was unable to stop himself from laughing outright.

“What's so funny, Hamada?” Gogo asked him when he was finally able to get his laughter under control. The petulant look on her face had him laughing again and he flung his hand out to support him on the wall, his other hand dropping from his mouth to hold his chest. He let out a wince as his laughter jarred his chest and the pain helped him calm down until he could stand upright again without the support of the wall.

Lips twitching in an attempt at reigning in his smile, Tadashi said to Gogo, “Your shock that Fred has a family butler.” He snorted and shook his head, determined not to laugh again. It would probably hurt more than it would be worth. Gogo still looked a bit put out, so Tadashi elaborated, “You all... Ha, you all had the same look on your faces.” He gave in to the smile and glanced at them all. Honey had a bright smile across her face and Fred mirrored her rather well. Wasabi had a more subdued smile on his face and Tadashi was suddenly overcome with feeling self-conscious due to their staring. He averted his gaze quickly, focusing on Baymax who stood silently behind Tadashi's... Friends? He still didn't know what to call them. To avoid awkward thoughts and the awkward stares, Tadashi cleared his throat and said, “Shouldn't we go outside? To wait for Heathcliff?”

There was a pause and then a murmur of agreement across the four. “He should be here soon!” Fred announced and Tadashi looked back at the group and watched Fred squeeze between Baymax and the wall to slip down the stairs.

Gogo snorted. “Baymax, you should probably go down next,” she said, amusement thick in her voice. The nursebot blinked and turned slowly to hobble down the stairs. Honey Lemon followed, giggling at the vinyl robot in front of her. Wasabi tugged Gogo along with him and Tadashi trudged after them all.

Tadashi was glad to see that Fred had used the house door instead of going out through the restaurant. Baymax was squeezing through the door by the time Tadashi hit the bottom step and he shook his head, smiling affectionately after the robot. He made sure the door locked behind him and made sure it shut all the way before he turned around. Baymax stood off to his right while his other four companions took to his left. Unsure of what to say, Tadashi just let the awkward silence hang in the air in favor of glancing down the street.

“Heathcliff!” Fred shouted suddenly and Tadashi glanced at him. He was pointing the opposite way Tadashi had been looking and the brunette took a step forward, blinking at the sight of the large van barreling toward them. It came to a screeching halt in front of them that had Tadashi gritting his teeth. The sound of grinding metal was not appealing to the bot creator. Fred sprinted to the passenger side door of the van, yanked it open, and leaned in, exchanging words with Heathcliff that Tadashi couldn't hear and then he turned and shut the door, moving around to the back of the van. He flung open the back doors and leaned around the one closest to them with a wide grin on his face. “Come on, guys! Tadashi, you get front seat!”

Tadashi tipped his head to the side and waited until everyone was in before he got in the front seat. He buckled himself in and glanced behind him, smiling at the sight of Baymax squished against the back doors.

“Where to, Master Fredrick?” Tadashi glanced at the driver who could only be Heathcliff.

“Home, Heathcliff!” Fred shouted.

As Heathcliff shifted the van into gear, it hit Tadashi that he was actually going to hang out with his old friends. Tired just from the thought, he leaned back into the seat and let out a sigh. The night would definitely be a long one, but at least he had Tylenol and Baymax with him.


	6. Nineteen Weeks and One Day - Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes!!!! Sorry it took me literally six months to get this chapter done and up. I hope it lives up to everyone's expectations. It hasn't been proofread by anyone but me just yet, so if you spot any errors, they're mine. I'll be getting the chapter proofread later and I'll go through and edit it then. Until then, so sorry for the errors.
> 
> So, Tadashi is going to be a little OOC, but he's been OOC the entire fic. I'm hoping to gradually ease him back into the Tada we know from canon by the end of the fic, it's just going to be a work in progress. And, of course, he won't be 100% the same. We'll just see. The next chapter is going to be difficult to write because it'll be the development of the supersuits and I need to adapt that to fit Tadashi's views, not Hiro's. So it'll take me a bit to get that one done, but I promise it'll be done in less than six months. (I'm definitely open to peoples' suggestions, so you can either comment or reach me at my [tumblr](http://conspiracieys.tumblr.com/ask) with ideas.)
> 
> I don't think I have anything more to add right now. So, without further adieu, enjoy the chapter!

He wasn't sure why watching movies had been so stressful. All he really knew was he had been in the bathroom an abnormal amount of time, splashing water on his face every few seconds to help him calm down. It was too much. He should have known it would be too much. Next time, they'd camp out in the living room of his house and watch movies so he would have a safe space. Tadashi took a deep breath, a shaky breath. He knew he needed to calm down, but he'd been in isolation for such a long time that socializing, not just working on autopilot but actively contributing to conversation and being, well, human, was foreign and overwhelming now.

A knock on the door startled Tadashi and he jerked in surprise, one hand slipping into the sink.

“Tadashi?” Baymax's familiar voice rang through the door. “You have been in the bathroom for quite some time. Are you alright? Your friends are quite worried.”

Tadashi splashed his face with water once more and shut off the sink, using the hand towel to dry his hands and face before he opened the door. Baymax loomed over him, taking over the doorway. If any of the other four had come with him, they would only get an eyeful of Baymax. Tadashi stared at Baymax for a moment before he spoke.

“I,” he started and swallowed, looking away. He hung the hand towel back up and brought his hands together in front of him, wringing them together as he tried to focus his thoughts.

“Your blood pressure is elevated, Tadashi,” Baymax informed him. “Are you in pain?”

The brunet gave Baymax an attempted smile that was definitely more of a grimace. “I'm really stressed, Baymax,” he informed the nursebot. “I want to go home.” This was said in a defeated, almost childish, tone. One that Tadashi would have felt bad hearing from anyone else, but hearing it from himself embarrassed him. He averted his gaze from the nursebot and Baymax was silent for a moment.

“We have only watched two movies,” the nursebot informed him and Tadashi sighed.

“I know,” he started, “but I just. I want to go home, Baymax. This is too much. I thought I could handle this if you came with me, but I just can't handle this right now.”

Baymax went quiet. “Alright,” he said when Tadashi didn't add anything more, “we will go home.”

Tadashi hadn't realized how tense he was until that moment because his shoulders slumped and some pressure was alleviated from his neck. “Thank you,” he mumbled and Baymax nodded as he stepped to the side so Tadashi could slip out of the bathroom. Tadashi turned off the bathroom light and headed back down the hall toward Fred's room.

The door was open, which Tadashi was grateful for. It made going in a little less stressful. When he stepped inside, his four companions (it sounded better than acquaintances and worked in place of friends, at least) were very clearly invested in the movie Fred had put in. Tadashi had never cared much for Batman, but seeing the four so enthralled made him feel, well, happy.

Their trance was broken by Baymax's vinyl squeaking into the room, and Fred was quick to pause the movie.

“You were gone a while,” Gogo observed, her tone curt. Honey shot Gogo a glare before focusing on Tadashi.

“Are you okay? What's wrong?” Honey asked kindly, quickly standing. She rushed over to Tadashi and looked him up and down. “Why is your shirt wet?” she wondered, reaching up to grab the collar of his turtle neck.

“Honey-!” Tadashi began, grabbing Honey Lemon's wrists. Her jaw dropped and she looked between his neck and his eyes rapidly a few times before she gave in and let the cloth slide from her hands. “Jesus, Honey Lemon,” he scolded, and she averted her gaze. “Don't... Don't.” He let her wrists go and adjusted the collar of his shirt so it covered his bruises, the bruises that were still an ugly mess of blue, red, and purple, the bruises that still made talking hard if he thought about it too much. The bruises he really wanted to hide from them.

“What happened to your neck?” she whispered, and he gave her a cutting glare he wouldn't have been capable of before.

“His neck?” Gogo wondered loudly, giving Wasabi a glare when he touched her shoulder.

Honey nodded once, not looking up from the floor. “He's... Got bruises.”

When Gogo moved, so did Tadashi. With some effort that caused his chest to ache and his back to burn, Tadashi put Baymax between himself and Gogo. It might have been childish, but it was his first and only instinct.

“Hamada,” Gogo threatened lowly, and Baymax blinked and titled his head to the side, not making to move out of the way for Gogo to get to Tadashi.

“Tadashi has severe bruising around his neck and along his chest. He is also suffering bruised ribs and a large abrasion on his back,” Baymax explained in his usual calm manner. Tadashi peered around the bot and was relieved to see Gogo backing down, concern replacing her anger. Figuring she wasn't going to body slam him now that she knew, he stepped out from behind Baymax and folded his arms loosely across his chest, briefly meeting Gogo's gaze before looking away. 

Instead, he glanced at the other three. Fred looked confused and concerned, like he didn't fully understand how Tadashi could sustain that kind of damage. Their Tadashi, not the Tadashi that stood defensively in front of them. Tadashi at least acknowledged that the person he was six months ago never would have gotten in a situation where he would be this hurt. He wasn't the same person, though, and he hoped they would figure that out themselves. Tadashi drew his gaze away from Fred and to Wasabi, who looked incredibly worried. Like it was taking all of his self control not to rush over and start checking over Tadashi's injuries. He would have smiled at that were the situation not so tense. After all Tadashi had put them through, they still cared deeply about his well-being.

Finally, Tadashi set his gaze on Honey Lemon. She was staring at him now, her eyes wide and watery. He swallowed and looked away, focusing on Baymax so he wouldn't have to address his feelings or theirs immediately.

Gogo was the first to break the tense silence. “Why did you work today, idiot?!” she exclaimed, clenching her fists at her sides. “You should be resting! Hamada, come on! Get it together!”

“Aunt Cass doesn't know,” Tadashi answered, glancing at Gogo. “She knows about the neck, but we've been relatively successful at hiding my chest and back from her.” Tadashi mirrored Gogo when she tensed.

“Then your back isn't clean.” It was more of a statement than a question, but Tadashi scoffed nonetheless.

“I programmed Baymax for _care_ , Gogo,” he explained. “He takes care of me. I'm fine, okay?”

“Baymax's diagnosis says otherwise, though,” Wasabi chimed, moving off of the couch and toward them. He put his hand on Gogo's shoulder again and Tadashi glanced between the two. “You're not fine. You know that.”

Tadashi's arms tightened across his chest until it hurt, causing him to drop them to his sides, and he glared at Wasabi. “I'm _fine_. He's taking care of me!”

“Hey,” Fred interrupted. “We're hearing you, bud, you don't need to shout.” He cleared his throat. “Why don't we all, like, sit down and talk it out. Talk it out, c'mon.”

Honey nodded slowly and Gogo shrugged, Wasabi smiling tightly at the suggestion. Tadashi was the one to shake his head. “No,” he argued. “No. Look, I just want to go home. I can walk. It's none of your business what I do.”

“It is!” Honey exclaimed, grabbing one of his hands with both of hers. “We're your _friends_ , Tadashi! Even if you want to fight it, we're your friends! We care about you, and your well-being is our business!”

In a harsh motion, Tadashi ripped his hand from Honey's grip. “No. No it's not,” he said coldly and he turned, storming out of the room. He slowed when Baymax started his squeaky walk after, and their pace was a slow one out of the room and down the hall.

Gogo gritted her teeth when she heard the front door open and close. “Oh, dang it!” she shouted after a few silent minutes. “We can't just let him walk home!” She grabbed her jacket from the back of the couch and tugged it on before breaking into a sprint after Tadashi and Baymax.

“Tadashi,” Baymax said. “Should we really walk home this late at night?”

Tadashi glared at the ground, his hands stuffed in his jeans pockets. “It's fine, Baymax,” he said. “It's fine. We'll just stick to the main roads.”

“Alright,” replied the nursebot.

At least Baymax didn't pry. He seemed to accept most of what Tadashi said at face value. (The few things he didn't accept always pertained to Tadashi's mental and physical health versus his attitude, and Tadashi was willing to let those things slide because it was what Baymax was programmed to do, after all.) It made walking home with Baymax a little better than if he was walking with anyone else. Baymax wasn't going to nag, wasn't going to demand to know what was going on (mainly because he knew), and he wasn't going to make Tadashi feel bad. With Baymax, Tadashi didn't have a lot, if anything, to feel bad about. Except making him worry two nights before. He pushed those thoughts from his mind; the last thing Tadashi wanted to think about was the masked person.

The masked person was like his guilt, though. It was easy to think about it and let it get to him. The masked person who _stole_ Hiro's microbots. Tadashi gritted his teeth. The masked person who used the microbots to just fling him around like he was trash. Who left him for dead. Tadashi sighed through his teeth and shook his head, upping his pace down the sidewalk. He needed to be home. Home was safe and he would feel better when he got home. Behind him, Baymax's vinyl squeaked faster as the robot attempted to keep up with him.

“If you push yourself too much,” Baymax spoke, “the abrasion on your back may open, furthering your injury. You may also tire yourself out before we get home.”

Tadashi didn't pause in his pace. “If we go faster, we might get home faster,” he argued, satisfied when Baymax didn't respond to that. He did tense, however, when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him. It took only seconds for his fight or flight instinct to kick in, and flight won out almost instantaneously.

“Tadashi!” Baymax exclaimed when Tadashi broke into a run, one faster than Baymax would be able to keep up with.

The brunet hesitated for a moment and doubled back, grabbing Baymax's hand and tugging the nursebot off. He knew Baymax's squeaking was a dead giveaway to whoever was running after them, but Tadashi couldn't have cared less. His instincts were just telling him to run. He didn't want to be chased, and his chest was twinging in pain as he moved.

“Why are we running?” Baymax asked, and Tadashi simply shook his head, keeping their quick pace as he searched the street ahead of them.

He was glad when he saw a small side street and was quick to yank Baymax down it. He took a moment to catch his breath and listen for the footsteps. When he couldn't hear them, Tadashi leaned against the wall, gripping Baymax's hand tightly as he tried to control his breathing. His pulse echoed in his ears, and adrenaline was thick in his veins, blurring his thoughts with each gulp of air he took.

“Fight or flight kicked in,” Tadashi whispered when he could breathe properly.

“Who was running after us?” Baymax wondered, and Tadashi peered up at him.

“No idea. Better safe than sorry, though,” he replied and pushed himself up from the wall.

Grip still firm on Baymax's hand, Tadashi tugged the nursebot down the side street, careful to make sure they were relatively quiet with their pace. They exited the side street and Tadashi quickly lead Baymax down an alley.

“This isn't right,” he said suddenly, squinting down the alley.

“What isn't?” asked the nursebot curiously, looking around as if that would help him understand what wasn't right.

“I smell salt.” Tadashi frowned and pulled Baymax toward the end of the alley. “We're at the bay,” he breathed when they stepped out of they alley. They were on one side of the bay, although thankfully it wasn't the side he'd been attacked on. “Well, it should be easier to get home from here,” he added in an attempt at being cheerful. He gave Baymax a halfhearted smile and let the robot's hand go before heading off at a more leisurely pace now that someone wasn't following them and they were in a better place to get home.

“It takes quite a while to get home from here,” Baymax offered as he followed Tadashi. Tadashi frowned and nodded.

“I know. Aunt Cass will probably be really worried,” he admitted.

“Perhaps we should return to your friends and ask for a ride,” suggested the robot. Tadashi shook his head this time.

“I don't know that they would give us one,” he said, looking around them. To their right were rows of houses and to their left, shipping containers lining the bay. They were alone, which Tadashi was happy about. He really didn't want to run into anyone. “Honestly, I was rude when we left. They're probably mad about it.” He shrugged, though, and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

“You could apologize.”

Tadashi flinched at the words. “I'm... Not good at apologizing.” Not anymore, anyway. His self imposed isolation had done a number on his people skills. It would take weeks, if not months, for him to remember how to socialize with people in a healthy way. “Come on,” he said, deciding to push that away for the moment, “we have a lot of walking to do.”

They didn't get very far when Tadashi heard an odd scraping sound. It wasn't footsteps on asphalt, but more like the grinding of metal. He gritted his teeth when the sound came again and he glanced at Baymax, nodding toward the shipping containers. Baymax blinked and turned his head toward the shipping containers.

“Wait here,” Tadashi whispered. “It'll be faster if I go alone. I'll be sneakier than you. Sorry.” He gave Baymax an apologetic smile and darted across the street, pressing himself against one of the shipping containers. He peered around the corner and moved to another one to continue looking. Tadashi frowned and glanced toward the bay, tensing when he noticed the ripples in the water were heavier than they should be this time of night. Just like the other night. His pulse, which had just begun to calm, picked up, as did his adrenaline. He pursed his lips and peered around the container he was pressed against. He inhaled sharply through his nose and covered his mouth with a hand.

He definitely recognized that mask from two nights ago. The masked person was hovering a good twenty feet above ground, though they hadn't been that high when Tadashi started their way, thanks to the microbots they'd stolen of course. Tadashi felt the familiar bitter rage course through him and he scowled, looking away from the person to see what they were doing. He couldn't help but be confused when he noticed the strange, rounded... Thing the microbots were holding at the person's eye level. It was a crescent of something, but what it was a piece of, he didn't know. Tadashi recoiled when the person's head moved and he pressed his hand harder against his mouth, hoping he hadn't been spotted. He waited a few seconds and peeked around the corner again. The masked person was back to just looking at the crescent and Tadashi glanced over it again.

It seemed like the masked person had rotated the crescent, because an outline of a sparrow that hadn't been there before was now clearly visible to Tadashi. He filed that away for future reference and pulled his head back, slipping down along the side of container. His stomach was churning and he could feel panic setting in the longer he was there. His neck, chest, and back twinged as if to remind him of his last encounter with the person (how could he forget).

A hand at Tadashi's shoulder had him swearing in surprise, and he was both lucky and glad that he was still covering his mouth with his hand. Taking a deep breath through his nose to still his harshly pounding heart, Tadashi turned and blinked at the sight of Honey Lemon and Wasabi standing behind him.

“What are you doing here?” he whispered after he uncovered his mouth.

“Looking for you,” Honey whispered back, though she was clearly confused about why they were whispering. “What are you doing _here_?”

Tadashi pressed his lips together in a thin line before his whole body slumped slightly. “I heard something,” he told them, keeping his voice in a low whisper. “So... It's a long story. Just...” He gestured to the end of the container and Wasabi slipped around them both, easing himself along the shipping container. Tadashi held his breath when Wasabi peered around and, like Tadashi had, covered his mouth. Wasabi stood there for a few seconds more and inched back, his eyes wide and confused.

“What the heck is that?” Wasabi whispered, and Honey frowned, taking a turn to creep down the container and look at the masked person. She didn't cover her mouth when she looked, instead choosing just to move away quickly.

Without a word, Honey grabbed one of Wasabi's arms and one of Tadashi's before she took off, running back roughly the way Tadashi had come to the street. They broke free of the shipping containers and Tadashi hazarded a glance over his shoulder, not surprised but definitely unsettled to see the masked person hovering a good ways above the containers. They were in plain view of the person and Tadashi's fight or flight instinct kicked in again and he shook Honey Lemon off only to grab her and tear across the street, only stopping briefly to grab Baymax's hand and he was off again, going back the way they'd come, toward Fred's house.

Tadashi didn't stop moving until they were back on a main street, well out of view of the masked person. He let Baymax and Honey go and bent over, holding his knees, panting. It hurt, breathing this hard, and being bent in half. He needed to, though, and both Honey and Wasabi were panting just as much as he was.

“Who was that guy?!” Honey exclaimed when she could breathe again.

“I don't,” Tadashi gasped, “I don't know. Look, I ran into him last night. I didn't go home, because I ran into that-that...” He stammered soundlessly, wanting to swear but not wanting to swear all at once. “Thing. That thing. That stole Hiro's microbots. Two nights ago, I was at the pier after... After something. And that thing was there. It attacked me. Hung me upside down, choked me. When I tried to run, the microbots threw me across the pavement and then crushed me. I think he-it... Thought I was dead? Baymax found me yesterday morning. It was him... It. I don't know who it is. I don't know.”

Tadashi took a deep breath and visibly cringed at the pain the deep breath caused his throat and chest. He was going to need some serious resting after tonight. He'd been exerting himself much too much and he knew in the morning he would hate himself for it. At least he had some kind of lead on the masked microbots thief, if nothing else. The sparrow outline, something he would try to look up after a long rest.

“We need to get somewhere safe,” Wasabi decided, digging his phone out of his pocket. Tadashi watched him fiddle with his phone and bring it up to his ear. “Gogo? We found Tadashi. Can you both just meet us back at Fred's house? We're almost there. Something weird is going on.” Tadashi looked away and listened as Wasabi and Gogo exchanged pleasantries. “Okay. Fred's house is the safest place for us right now, Tadashi. Please. Come back with us.”

Tadashi waffled for a moment and shrugged. “Okay.” He reached out for Baymax and gripped the nursebot's hand before he followed Wasabi and Honey down the street. The four were quiet as they moved and they only stopped long enough for Wasabi to open the door to the mansion that Fred called home. The group of four stayed clumped together as they headed to Fred's room, and Wasabi and Honey settled next to Tadashi and Baymax when the two sat down.

“Tadashi,” Baymax began. “How is your pain?”

Tadashi gritted his teeth at the question. He was trying to ignore his pain. For the most part, it had been working, especially with the recent addition of adrenaline coursing through his system. Now, though, with no movement at all, the adrenaline rush fading, and nothing to distract him, it was catching up with him. “A four, maybe a five?” he said, although it sounded more like a question.

Baymax whirred for a moment. “You should take more Tylenol,” the bot decided, looking around the room. “I will get you some water.”

“I can!” Honey offered, jumping up before Baymax had the chance to. Without waiting for approval, Honey rushed out of the room. When she came back, Gogo and Fred were with her. Honey returned to her spot between Wasabi and Tadashi, handing the latter a glass of water. Tadashi accepted it with a nod and fished his Tylenol bottle from his pocket. With some awkward maneuvering, he popped the cap off and tapped two pills into his hand. He made quick work of the pills and the water before he popped the bottle of pills back into his pocket.

“So,” Gogo began, dropping onto the floor in front of the four on the couch. Fred joined her and drew his knees to his chest, grinning at them all. “What's the weird something going on?”

Tadashi set the now empty glass on the floor between his feet and sighed before he launched into an explanation of what was going on, starting with running into the masked person two nights ago and finishing with the run-in they'd just had with the person. Fred was captivated, his jaw dropped as he rocked back and forth on the floor. His eyes never left Tadashi, unlike Gogo. She looked slightly disbelieving, periodically glancing at Honey and Wasabi as if to verify Tadashi's story.

“Okay,” she said when Tadashi finished talking, “so you're telling me that the fire at school was a setup somehow for someone to steal Hiro's microbots. And that Professor Callaghan and Hiro died because this weirdo in a mask just _had_ to have Hiro's tech. And there's somehow a sparrow involved. Is that about right?”

“Yes and no,” Tadashi replied, proud of himself for maintaining his cool when Hiro's death was mentioned. “The... Thing the masked person was dragging around and studying had a strange sparrow printed on it. It was just a red sparrow in a circle. I didn't recognize it, and last year I did a project on all prominent scientific movements in San Fransokyo. Nothing ever came up with a logo matching that.” He shrugged when he was done and glanced at Honey and Wasabi. For the most part, they seemed supportive of what he had told Gogo, although Honey looked hesitant. “What is it, Honey Lemon?” he asked her, trying to keep his tone warm. It really had been too long since he'd interacted with people.

She pressed her hands together and worried her bottom lip for a moment, looking to Wasabi for encouragement. He smiled at her and Honey took a deep breath before blurting, “Shouldwecallthecops?” Tadashi blinked and took a few moments to completely register what she asked and he frowned.

“No,” he said at the same time Gogo said, “Definitely.”

The pair sent each other glares. “No,” Tadashi repeated. “What can they do? This weirdo burned down a building of our school! They didn't care if anyone was inside! If we involve the cops, we're just putting more lives at risk. We can't do that, guys. We _can't_. No one else needs to die because of this creep.”

“I agree with Honey Lemon,” Baymax offered. “The proper authorities should be able to handle this situation appropriately. You need your rest.”

Tadashi shook his head roughly, ignoring the smug grin on Gogo's face. “What can they _do_? That's even assuming that they believe us! Everyone at the school that night saw it get burned down, saw the ruins of so many projects. Claiming the microbots were actually stolen instead of destroyed will probably be seen as reaching. Why would anyone believe us?”

The group fell quiet and Gogo scowled at the floor.

“He's right,” Wasabi was the first to say. He jumped when Tadashi pushed himself to his feet. He moved away from the group and stood in front of the large TV that had long since stopped displaying their movie and was, instead, displaying snow. “What can we do?”

Tadashi reached up and removed his hat, running his fingers through his hair. He had no idea what they could do. Cops were out, so what else was there? He dropped his gaze to the DVD player and frowned, the beginnings of an idea creeping into his head.

It was absurd. Completely absurd. Right? It could never work. Could it? Tadashi slowly settled his hat back on his head and he crouched down, turning the DVD player on to eject the disc. He plucked the disc out of the console and twisted it around in his hand, observing the art on it. It could work. Maybe. Probably not, but at this point they didn't have much to lose. He pushed the player closed and shut it off, standing back up.

“Tadashi?” Honey asked and he grinned, turning to face them. He held out the DVD so it was easily visible.

“Movies?” Gogo scoffed. “You think watching _The Dark Knight_ will help? Did the butt kicking from Captain Creeper mess up your head?”

“He did not sustain a concussion,” Baymax offered helpfully. “I believe he became unconscious due to oxygen loss from asphyxiation.” Gogo shot Baymax a weak glare before focusing back on Tadashi.

“It might work,” Tadashi started. “It might.” He was glad when Fred launched himself to his feet and moved over to him, grabbing his arm and shaking it.

“Dude!” Fred shouted, shaking Tadashi more. “Dude! We can! We can do it. All of us. _All_ of us!”

Tadashi's grin widened. “We can become superheroes.”

The response he had hoped for was not the one he received. Gogo wrinkled her nose, Honey covered her mouth, and Wasabi only stared.

Gogo broke the silence. “Who are you and what have you done with Tadashi Hamada? I'll take any version. Preferably the version from six months ago, but even the Tadashi from an hour ago is great. What the _heck_ is wrong with you?”

“It makes total sense!” Fred responded, moving impressively quick to Gogo's side and eye level. “ _We_ can do what cops can't! We can protect San Fransokyo! We can get rid of this creep because we know he's real! We believe us! Right? Gogo, it's, like, perfect!”

Gogo snorted and looked away, though Tadashi noticed the change in her expression as she did.

“Well,” Wasabi started, looking between Fred and Tadashi. “We are certainly... _Smart enough_... Tadashi. Are you sure? We're just a bunch of nerds in college.”

Tadashi propped one hand on his hip and he retracted his arm to give the DVD a look over. “What do we have to lose?” he asked, his tone softer now than it had been.

“N-nothing,” stammered the other brunet. “But what happened to something slow and quiet? Not being able to do anything big for a while?”

Tadashi blinked and looked up at him. “This is far more important,” he defended.

“False,” Baymax chimed. “Your mental, emotional, and physical health is more important than locating a man in a mask.”

“Person,” Tadashi corrected. “We don't know if they're a man or a woman or outside of the gender binary.”

“False again,” Baymax replied. “I scanned him while you were with Honey Lemon and Wasabi.”

Tadashi wrinkled his nose and thought back to half an hour earlier. That was right. The masked person had been a good twenty feet above them, well in Baymax's line of sight.

“He is male, his blood type is AB Negative, and he weighs 173 pounds,” Baymax announced, and Tadashi frowned as a small outline of the masked man showed up on Baymax's stomach.

“Alright,” he conceded, on that point at least. “Catching him should be our priority.”

“Maybe figuring out _how_ we'll catch him,” Wasabi offered.

“First,” Fred started, “we'll lure him-”

“I _meant_ ,” interrupted Wasabi, “how we'll become... Superheroes.”

The room fell silent, with all six occupants just looking at each other, none knowing where to even start with that. Tadashi had said it _might_ work, not that it _would_.


End file.
